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Sep 7 , 2025

Zemedeneh Negatu (CEO, CBE Capital S.C.)

Fortune: If you were trapped in a desert, what are the two things you would take? Zemedeneh: Drinking water and an iPhone with GPS. Q: What was your first job and first paycheck? My first job, where I actually earned a paycheck, was as a teenager working for a transportation company in Saud...

Sep 7 , 2025

Wolde Bulto (President, Gadaa Bank)

Fortune: If you were likely to be trapped in the desert, what two things would you bring with you? Wolde Bulto: Two things would matter most. First, water, not just having it, but finding a way to make it last. Second, shelter, because the weather can be brutal and unforgiving. Q: What was your first job, and how much was your first paycheck? After graduating from Addis Abeba University, I joined the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) as a management trainee, my first job 26 years ago. My starting salary was 832 Br. Many of us from that trainee batch went on to become CEOs, leading ins...


Sep 7 , 2025

Hana Tehelku (Director General, Ethiopian Capital Market - ECMA)

Fortune: If you are trapped in a desert, what two things would you bring with you? Hana Tehlku: The desert is a place of scarcity, where life boils down to two questions. How do I survive, and how do I protect my dignity while doing so? It's a land without law. You won't get everything you want, yet its vast openness is both freeing and unforgiving. The first things I would take are faith and hope, with a container of water close at hand. In such harsh terrain, dignity can slip away. I would stay alert, watchful of what surrounds me and what I can use. I once heard someone say, ‘If I see...


Sep 6 , 2025

CBE Wrestles with Past as Reforms Test the Future of State Banking

Abe's conversation with Tamrat G. Giorgis, our managing editor, was as much about the future as it was about recovery. His vision, rooted in digital transformation, disciplined risk management, and a rejection of short-term fixes like high-cost fixed deposits, was counterbalanced by a candid acknowledgement of unresolved vulnerabilities. From the “unprecedented” 801 million Br unauthorised withdrawal incident, which tested CBE's operational nerves and public trust, to the hard choices between profit and national stability in managing chronic foreign currency shortage, Abe oscillated betwee...

Interview

Sep 7 , 2025

Tewedaj Gezahegn (General Manager, HST Consulting Plc)

Fortune: If you were trapped in a desert, what are the two things you would take? Tewedaj: A lot of water and food. Q: What was your first job and first paycheck? External audit and 4,000 Br...

Aug 3 , 2025

UNDP's Toughest Frontiers

The UNDP has expanded its narrative from “poverty eradication” to what Ahunna Eziakonwa, the UN's assistant secretary-general, calls “promoting prosperity,” combining the usual public investme...

May 17 , 2025

Germany Champions Reforms While Industrial Model Faces Global Stress Test

Jens Hanefeld, Germany's envoy in Addis Abeba, touched down last September with a resume that mixes three decades of diplomacy, a decade running Volkswagen's global lobbying shop and the trained eye o...

Apr 19 , 2025

Legacy Businesses in a Liminal Era

At first light in Addis Abeba's Qality District, the smell of freshly roasted Yirgacheffe beans drifts into the yeasty haze from Shoa Bakery's ovens, a blend that sums up Ethiopia's family firms. Such...

Apr 19 , 2025

The Roast of Resilience Brews in Bloodline

When her father died suddenly in 2008, Heleanna Georgalis found herself at the helm of Moplaco Trading Plc, a venerable coffee company founded in 1897 during Emperor Menelik's reign. Thrust into le...

Apr 19 , 2025

Ink, Blood and Family Bonds Shape a Quiet Printing Empire

Chamber Printing House Plc was established in 1965 by Asfaw Tefera and Tiruwork Mengistu. Asfaw, then a diplomat at the Ethiopian Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, spent his spare time in a friend's printery...

Apr 19 , 2025

Old Mixers, New Markets, Bake Belay Legacy into Sweet Future

The pastry house began life in 1964 when friends Belay Teklu and Gebresenay Tedla opened St George Pastry in Merkato. Gebresenay later left, and Belay relaunched at Teklehaimanot, then Lideta, pioneer...

Apr 19 , 2025

From Merkato to Prominence, a Family Recipe Rose Against the Grain

The pioneering spirit behind Shoa Bakery, a name that has become synonymous with bread across Addis Abeba and far beyond, began 64 years ago. Zemui first entered a local bakery as an apprentice, quick...

Apr 19 , 2025

A Coffee Stained Creed Drive WARYT’s Unorthodox Rise

WARYT was established in 1989 under the name Mulutila International; “WARYT” was merely the name of the building that housed the first office. Soon afterwards, the family resolved to rename the co...

Apr 19 , 2025

From Fabric to Fortune Get As Weaves Legacy into Corporate Might

The family business dates back to its foundation in 1975, when a courageous young entrepreneur made a bold move to start his own textile trading business. Later, as the business took shape for the bet...

Apr 19 , 2025

When Family Ties Paint the Future

Makush Art Gallery & Restaurant was founded in 2000 by Tesfaye Hiwote, after spending three decades in the United States. A pioneer in combining fine dining with visual art, the gallery has become...

Jan 19 , 2025

"Music is a Science, We Must Respect Our Scientists"

Mulatu Astatke, the creator of Ethio Jazz, views music as a science, much like chemistry, where sounds combine to form melodies and harmonies. Mulatu's unique style blends Ethiopian musical modes with...

Jan 5 , 2025

SOMICK'S LENS

Sewmehon Yismaw, known affectionately as "Somick," is a filmmaker who describes his life as a mystery he would personally direct. He speaks proudly of his childhood, recounting how his gift for storyt...

Dec 22 , 2024

State Enterprises from Oracles to Apprentices

Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitive powerhouses, the sovereign wealth manager, Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), is at a defining moment. At the h...

Aug 4 , 2024

Patience - Consistency - Respect

France's Ambassador to Ethiopia up until last week, Remi Marechaux, arrived in Addis Abeba four years ago with a dual mandate of representing his country and engaging with the African Union (AU). He d...

Jun 1 , 2024

Weeding Out Debt, Seeding a Greener Economy

Jennifer Lee Morgan, inaugural state secretary of Germany and special envoy for International Climate Action, is spearheading a  shift in global financial structures to facilitate a sustainable trans...


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