Several years ago, Tsegaye Asfaw, head of the over a century-old Chamber Printing House, had his eyes on some Solna printing machine models. He mulled going through his usual supplier, Mosbez, an agent in Ethiopia that prides itself for its ”close relationship to customers” for four decades. But Tsegaye felt he needed to seek a different route this time. He imported the machines directly from the manufacturer without going through Mosbez.

There is not much that happened in the printing industry, whether with companies owned by the state or privately held, without Bezuayehu Tesfaye, who founded and ran Mosbez, eventually finding out.

”All roads in the printing industry lead to Bezuayehu,” says Tsegaye, remembering Bezuayehu, who passed away on January 26, 2022, after a bout of illness. His funeral was held the following day.

The foreign supplier alerted Mosbez to the purchase of printing machines in Ethiopia. Bezuayehu contacted Chamber and offered his company’s expertise over any after-sales services. He told them that he knows they have a new model and would be glad to offer maintenance or assembly services they needed. No grudges were held. And need his help, they did.

”The technology had changed. It was a new model. We needed his help,” says Temesgen. ”He didn’t accuse us of betraying him. He gave us all the technical help we needed, including maintenance and spare parts.”

Bezuayehu’s expertise and depth of knowledge are legendary. He was especially adept in customising products to the needs of the various printing houses, be it Chamber, Berhanena Selam, Mega or Artistic printing companies. Need consultancy and advice establishing a publishing company? Bezuayehu was the man to visit.

He had nationals and non-nationals on his payroll and worked with a diverse group of printing technology experts and electrical and mechanical engineers. Knowledge transfer and capital were critical to Mosbez. He attended trade shows diligently, especially those held in the German city of Dusseldorf, where he invited Tsegaye and his brother.

”His footprint in Ethiopia’s printing technology is second to none,” says Tsegaye, who considered him a mentor.