Showing Up Matters :

Five years ago, a senior colleague (an African Expat) and I went out for a business trip in to one of the countrysides of Ethiopia to see if the project we used to supervise was going well. In one late afternoon, while we were on the field full of bushes and shrubs, my colleague disappeared from the scene and I was worried that something bad might happen to him given he was a complete stranger with no good grasp of the local language. After a few minutes of up and down searching, I found him safe sitting and talking with a farmer who happened to be around. To my wonder, both were having a great time smiling and chatting drawing the little words we taught to the expat colleague.       Related Read:   Aligning Ethiopian Energy Markets for Innovation and More Jobs Ensuring he was safe, I had to ask him what interested him to leave me and join the farmer in an environment he was not familiar with. His answer was awakening.  You know what, he said to me: This man (th...

They say ' Necessity' is the mother of 'Invention' and 'Opportunity' is its father.  As in any society, Ethiopia needed cash but its business environment has never been sufficiently oriented that way. The digital apps, plugins or features we browse on a daily basis whether for business or fun are mostly developed by academic researchers or entrepreneurs sponsored and commercialized by market players anywhere else. Why not in Ethiopia?  At the very best, Ethiopian graduates come up with new ideas, concepts and demonstrations every year to serve their academic purposes yet we often do not hear continuation or upscaling of their work to solve societal problems and benefit themselves in financial terms. In my experience, the main reason, if I have to blame, is the lack of commercial orientation of the market in the country. Societal problems are mostly the same across the globe and a software built to solve an Ethiopian problem, for example, can also help solve a ...

  ታዝባችሁ ከሆነ በዘመናዊ የተሰጥኦ ውድድሮች ( Got Talents) ሳይቀር በውትድርና ያገለገሉ ወይም እያገለገሉ ያሉ ወታደሮች  ለውድድር  ሲቀርቡ የውድድሩ ዳኞች ከሁሉም ነገር በፊት ለአገልግሎታችሁ እናመሰግናለን ነው የሚሉት።ይህ ለመስዋእትነታቸው የሚከፈላቸው የክብር ዋጋ ነው።                      እኛ ጋርም ነበረ። ጠቅላይ ሚኒስቴር አብይ አህመድ በፓርላማ ውሏቸው ወታደር ለመመልመል ተቸግረው እንደነበር በማዘን ጭምር ገልጸዋል። በእርግጥ አሳዛኝ ነው። ምክንያቶቹ ጥናት ቢያስፈልጋቸውም እኔ በግሌ የሚታየኝ ነገር አለ። ወታደር ለመሆን ወይ ክብር ወይ ጥሩ የሞያ አማራጭ( ከጥሩ ክፍያ ጋር) ካለበለዚያ ደግሞ ኢትዮጵያ አሁን ያለችበትን ነባራዊ ሁኔታ የተረዳና ሊታደጋት መስዋእትነት ለመክፈል ዝግጁ የሆነ መሆን አለበ ት። ሶስተኛውን ለጊዜው እንተወውና ሁለቱ አማራጮች በእርግጥ በተቋሞቻችን ውስጥ ነበሩ ወይ? እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ማህበረሰብ ወይም ግለሰብ በዙሪያው የሚያውቀው አንድ ወታደር ወይም ፖሊስ አለ። በተቋሙ ያላቸውን ቦታና ማህበረሰቡ የሚሰጣቸውን ክብር እያወቀ እንዴትስ ይህ ትውልድ ውትድርናን የሂወት አማራጩ እንዲያደርግ ይጠበቃል።  በአንድ ወቅት የገጠመኝን ላካፍላችሁ። ለሰራ ጉዳይ ወደ አንዱ የሀገራችን ከፍል ስንጓዝ በአንድ አካባቢ ሽፍቶች እንደሚያስቸግሩና ለደህንነታችን እንደሚያሰጋን ተነገረን ። የነበረን አማራጭ በአካባቢው ወደሚገኝ የፖሊስ ማዘጃ ሄደን ጥበቃ እንዲደረግልን መጠየቅ ነበር። ፖሊስ የሰጠን መልስ ከማህበረሰቡም የተደገመልን ምክር ያለፖሊስ በራሳችን ብንሄድ የተሻለ እንደሚሆን ነበር። ፖሊስ ካለ እንዲ...

ብዙ ወገኖች ህውሀት እራሱ አማራ ብሎ የሰየመው ማህበረሰብ ጠላት ነው ብለው   ያምናሉ። በእርግጥ በረጅም ዓመታት ካደረሰው ልናስበው ከሚከብደን ግፍና በደል አንጻር ትክክል ሊመስል ይችላል። እኔ ግን እንደዛ አላየውም። ለስልጣኑ ማራዘሚያ ሲል ህዝቦችን የመከፋፈያ መንገዱ እንደሆነ ነው የማስበው። ምክንያቱም ህውሀት ለስልጣኑ ማራዘሚያ ለክህደቱና ለዘራፊነቱ መደበቂያ እንጂ በፍጹም ወዳጅ ህዝብ የለውም።   ይህ አሁን ያልተገለጸላቸው ኢትዮጵያዊያን ( በተለይ ደግሞ የትግራዋይ ወገኖች ) እግዜር እንዲገልጽላችው ጸሎቴ ነው። ህውሀት ከለላ ሊያደርግላቸው በሚገባ ንጹሃን ሂወት ላይ የሚጫወት ብቸኛ የሀገራችን ድርጅት ነው። አሁን እየሆነ ያለው በሁሉም የህዝባችን ክፍል ላይ በተለያየ ጊዜ ሲያደርገው የኖረው ነው። ሁላችንም በቃህ ልንለወ የሚገባን ወቅት ላይ ነን። It is so painful that it becomes sympathizer for its own deed. Not once but throughout its existence.  It is time to say ENOUGH! One final Thought: What ever you do to succeed, Showing Up ^ Exposure Matters!!     It Is the First Key Step Leading You Where You Want to Go Be bold to embrace It! Do Subscribe  to  Showing Up ^ Exposure Matters  to Receive Updates by Email

I personaly believe that today's youth is born with tremendous opportunities but with constant distractions. Far and in between, select few decipher the code and navigate the complex journey to their advantage. The large mass are yet to take longer. Back in the days when I was at primary and secondary schools, Temar Lijie was the driving motto. I now know that strong motivation has been steadily waning even if we know eduaction is even far important today and in the future. If we think we do not see the value of knowledge as most does these days, it is time to ask ourselves a better question. Educating ourselves and aquiring the right set of knowledges and skills is far more than a financial metric. Our success and happpines all depends on it. Knowledge continues to be a potential power for change . The only question to ask is whether the formal education is enough to empower us in the work place and in business. As much as there are massess of people wondering how to survive the ...

Note: This article was published on addisfortune, 2016 edition.  Although a signifacant progress has been made since the first write up, we do think some of the key suggestions are still relevant to todays market envirnment. Hence the need to republish it here. Procedural inefficiency is a major roadblock to Ethiopia's growth vision, argues Tigabu Atalo, a power, energy and infrastructure consultant, in this commentary first published at Linkedin Pulse. Taking the time to redress the shortcomings is vital, he suggests . There is a very good reason to identify blocks to progress on the individual and enterprise levels, let alone on the scale of a nation’s economy, as it gives the chance to put them aside in time. Ethiopia’s determination to achieve its first Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP I) was remarkable. It put most of the targets in the pipeline, but with significant slippage in terms of time – and I do believe procedural efficiency problem is to take the blame more than ...

  Reflection of Personal Observation If one thing differentiates PM Abiy’s team from the recent predecessors, it is the ability of execution, a practice of words to action. What actually has been happening in Ethiopia over this short period is a disruption/upheaval to the whole of the incumbent government at a scale never seen before (Well, at least in my age and conscious peafully). I feel it in many forms: within, across the region and elsewhere, and in a positive way. Unless our memory is short, these are just the very few mentions that calls for my appreciation. Release of all political prisoners, Peace deal with Eritrea, Revival of the GERD and few other energy projetcts Consolidation of the ruling party, Completion of river side, unity and Entoto park projects, Rebalancing of the macroeconomic variables, Sidama statehood, Institutional footprints across line ministries, Relative press freedom, Relocation of citizens, Controlling of Contraband Fighting of the locust Gains ...