TIGA Awards and Recent Development

Almost two month have already passed since Arada Services was in Ethiopia and it was a rather busy time for all team members. Michael and Karl were struggling with exams, Dilu continued with his master thesis and Beyene had many things to do at work. Unfortunately, there is another life outside of our little company and sometimes it catches up, although this should not be too unexpected. Now it is the beginning of March and most of these matters are dealt with. All of us agreed to work with renewed energy and to progress quickly in order to work on our product version for the Ethiopian market and get in done in the early summer.

It seems that we can continue our cooperation with Tuli in order to fund our business idea. Teemu Seppälä, who used to be our contact person is nowadays entirely focused on marketing for Tuli and forwarded us to Panu Kuosmanen, who is the Technology Transfer Manager for Networks and Telecommunications. Michael and Dilu already attended meetings with him and we submitted the application form for the second stage of funding. If everything goes well, we should have another 20.000 € which we need to purchase the necessary software and hardware to make our idea work. We are very confident that things will work out according to plan.

Apart from this, Arada Services is now looking into other funding opportunities as well and has submitted a proposal to Ethio Telecom. We hope to achieve results in both matters rather quick, it would make future planning easier if both, the funding and the payment transaction situation, are secured.

Something that could help us with both is that Arada Services is now officially a candidate for this years Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) Awards by the the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Finland in the category Public service delivery to citizens/communities. Lets see if Arada Services is able to win its second prize after becoming the Most Promising Startup at the Summer of Startups. Already some visibility and new contacts would be excellent and a real accomplishment.

You can read about it on our blog post, which will now appear again regularly.

Final Hours in Addis Ababa and a Very Important Haircut

Saturday, 15^th of January

 

The last day in Ethiopia started as all the ones before: Getting out of my cosy bed was very unpleasant!! Well, not that this would be any worse in Ethiopia than it is in Europe.

Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

Maybe I should reconsider by contempt for coffee; it seems to help people a great deal to overcome their morning grumpiness. Wouldn’t Ethiopia – as the homeland of coffee – be the ideal place to start so? Considering this thought for a couple of seconds, I discarded it quickly after and rather dragged myself towards the direction of the bath room. Again, I noticed that the tap water had the strange taste of something that reminded me of the attempt to reproduce the odour of the Jasmine flower with artificial elements. Strangely, this was only the case in my new hotel. Well, maybe this was the price for paying 30 $ less per night. Michael arrived to pick me up the very moment I came back from the bathroom, so I hurried to collect all remaining items from my room and to store my luggage at the hotel reception in order to pick it up later on the way to the airport. I jumped into the waiting car and we started to drive a bit around Addis to visit some of Michael’s relatives and friends. Saying farewell is a rather important thing to do, probably understandable when living ~ 8000 km away from home.

Anyhow, around noon Michael had some more points on his agenda and the car had to be returned. Therefore, I met Beyene and we were roaming the streets for the next couple of hours. Suddenly it came to my mind that I definitely had to get a haircut. Although it would not cost me in Berlin around 40 € – like in Helsinki – to get my hair done properly, but I had the feeling that it would be considerably cheaper in Addis Ababa. Not long afterwards, we already found a place and I was looking like a human once again. It escaped my notice that Dilu joined us at the hairdresser, I just got my hair washed when he arrived. To my astonishment, when I came back to the entrance area to pick up my belongings, he sat exactly on the chair which I occupied minutes earlier and got a haircut. Mhh, it was more a shave I have to say. When the hairdresser finished Dilus new and aerodynamic style, all of us went to a German beer garden close by to enjoy the remaining sunlight and a couple of cold and tasty beers. The afternoon went by quickly and when it became a bit chilly, Beyene returned to his family and Dilu and I went to meet another friend of his, before I decided to spend my remaining time watching “The Green Hornet” in 3D at one of the local movie theatres. Even though the movie was definitely not the best I have seen recently, it was still worth to pay  3 Euros. As soon as I stepped out, I saw already Michael, his father and two other family members waiting for me in front of the movies. We quickly made our way to the Airport to meet Dilu, said goodbye to Michaels family and dropped our luggage (not without any difficulties – Michael apparently stored more than 30 kg of food in his main piece of luggage!!) before spending our remaining time and money at one of the airport bars before our flight departed to Istanbul at 1.30 AM and our great and successful trip came to an end…

Me at the German beer garden. In the background hangs a tram plate from my home district in Berlin. I wonder how it made it all the way to Ethiopia...

This week in Ethiopia was most certainly a very successful time for Arada Services. In addition to our business project, it was also great for me to explore Addis Ababa. I have not been to Africa for many years and was surprised – in a very positive way – of the culture and the people. There was not a single negative experience I had regarding my status as a white foreigner. Not even beggars seemed to treat me differently from the locals and did not approach me like an obviously profitable source of income. More often, random people started to converse with you and were keen to hear about what brought you to Ethiopia and to listen to ones impressions of the country. One particular happening probably describes the general attitude of the people very well: when I was with Mika on the way to the St. George Brewery, some random people greeted us on the street and shook our hands and wished us a pleasant Friday evening. When Mika responded in Amharic, they where obviously impressed and happy, thanking him for the effort to learn their language. It seemed to me that most of the people are grateful for one’s interest in the country. This is probably due to the fact that Ethiopia is not overcrowded with tourists, like Kenya. Even though one might be a tourist or a “wealthy” foreigner, one is still treated like a human and not only like a walking wallet. It is also possible to walk alone around the town after the sunset without facing any dangers.

All in all, I had wonderful experiences during this week and Ethiopia proved to be a very likable place with lovely people and I am eager to visit it again to explore more than only Addis Ababa.

The last Business Day

Friday, 14^th of January

Unlike the day before, Friday was going to be rather busy. Already at 10 in the morning we had a meeting with Dr. Mesfin Belachew, Director of the E-Government Directorate at the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology. We were rather lucky with such an appointment and got it only because one of Beyenes friend is really well-connected to the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology.

Random Clothing Store in Addis Ababa

Unfortunately, only one of us was able to meet Dr. Mesfin. Therefore, Beyene and me stayed in the cafeteria of the building and worked on some final changes of the Sky and Selam Bus proposals. Michael returned after one hour, more or less exactly the time it took us to finish our task. He told us about his meeting where he was entrusted with a detailed explanation of the Ethiopian Government strategy and initiatives towards the progress and adoption of Technology and ICT in the country. On the one hand, the development the Ethiopian Government requests from companies willing to work in such a field is demanding, but on the other hand, the initiatives and support towards ICT – even on the ministry level – is really promising.

Practical advice was given to us, regarding both the experience with older projects and current scenarios regarding ICT in Ethiopia. The final conclusion was the promise of the director to organise a demonstration for Arada Services in the near future, where we would be able to present our ideas and suggestions to various ministerial members and members of the private economy.

As it was almost 12 o’clock, Michael dropped Dilu, Beyene and me close to my former hotel where we quickly sent the proposals via email to the bus companies and had lunch shortly after. Michael was not able to join us due to some other obligations, so it was up to us three to meet Mika Turpeinen, a Finish Entrepreneur who moved to Ethiopia several years ago and founded a small mobile phone services company himself. He told us about his experience regarding business in Ethiopia and his attempts to work together with companies like ETC, about legal issues and many more topics that would matter to us in the near future. The advice he gave us was very valuable and it was good to hear the honest opinion from somebody like him. As it was Friday afternoon and Mika had no plans so far, I decided to join him on a walk through the town towards St. George Brewery, which lay around 6 km away from our current position. We strolled down one of the major roads and then turned into the large and beautiful city park of Addis Ababa, were we stopped in one of the pubs and had one beer. Not long after, we continued our way and arrived soon at the Brewery, apparently the oldest in Ethiopia. It was founded in 1922 in Addis Ababa and is positioned close to the centre of town and includes a huge bar/restaurant area with space for approximately 2000 people. When Mika and I arrived, it was already crowded and no seats were available any more. Anyhow, we bought ourselves a couple of beers and enjoyed the busy local atmosphere. I guess that we were apparently the only foreigners there at all. Afterwards, Mika took me to a hotel near by, a huge building with 11 floors and an amazing overview over Addis Ababa. It was the first time that I realised how huge the town actually is. Only once I saw it from above before when I arrived by plane, but due to power shortage, only parts of the town are illuminated and it is hard to guess its dimensions. This time, however, the night not yet engulfed Addis Ababa completely and I saw the entire city, a very impressive sight. By the time we finished the little snacks we had ordered, Michael was with us and took me back to my Hotel after I thanked Mika for the amazing afternoon we spent together.

Back at my place, I quickly had dinner and started packing my belongings. Not shortly after, sleep overwhelmed me and Friday night came to an unusually quiet end.

Sky Bus and familar feelings

Thursday, 13^th of January

I woke up and the familiar feeling of a major hangover was with me the very moment, but fortunately, there weren’t many appointments scheduled for this day. When Dilu and Beyene appeared in my hotel around noon, I was also not the only one feeling a

Traffic in Addis Ababa

bit sick. We spent the next two hours lazily sitting around before we finally felt a bit better and made our way via taxi to the Sky Bus headquarters which we visited already a day ago. This time, however, we waited only a little while before we were ushered into a conference room for our meeting with Mr. Solomon, the General Manager. When we started to explain our idea to him, he was instantly very enthusiastic about such a solution. Our conversation was not only fruitful in terms of our proposal, but also thanks to Mr. Solomon entrepreneurial experience. He willingly discusses several problems regarding our service and gave us openly advice in order to tackle these issues. Finally we agreed on sending him our initial proposal by Friday noon and that Mr. Solomon would provide us with a Letter of Interest. During the time that Dilu, Beyene and me spent at Sky Bus, Michael was in touch with Yetim and discusses further the possibility of cooperation. It was also agreed to prepare a proposal soon and to continue discussions from this point onwards.

The rest of this day was dedicated to free time, so Michael visited the Finish Embassy and Dilu and Beyene enjoyed some steam bath and sauna. I bet they were missing Finland to much already…

My own “free time” consisted of connecting my Laptop to the internet trough a stationary telephone. Had I been a couple of years younger, I would not even be aware of the fact that this used to be done in Europe some time ago as well! Anyhow, I still felt like a time machine took me back to the Stone Age, but was caught by surprise when I found out that the connection was actually rather good. For the rest of the evening, I worked on the proposal for the bus operators and on other work that had to be done. Nothing more spectacular happened and my day ended not too soon after I had most of the work done.

ETC and a lot of food

Wednesday, 12^th of January

It was much harder to get up this time. Well, by now you probably have already noticed that I am not the most eager person to get out off bed. BUT: It was 7.30 AM and this is, at least in my opinion, a good reason to be a bit grumpy. It had been an opportunity to pack my stuff in the last evening, but this task somehow stayed unfinished and waited for me before checkout and our meeting with ETC at 10 AM. Somehow, everything was completed in time, so Michael and I picked up Dilu somewhere in town before driving with our electrostatic car towards the Enterprise Business building of ETC. On our way we stopped at an Ethiopian café and had some delicious cakes for breakfast. Michael knew the place from the time he was working at ETC. He explained that the café existed already for more than 100 years and that one had to be there at the right time for cake.

One of the taxis, probably also 100 years old...

Otherwise, everything would be sold out. Fortunately, we made it and got some of the sweets, even though not much was left. As the clock slowly approached 10 AM, we left the café and were in time at the ETC building. Handing our passports over to the guard, we were led to one of the offices only to find out that the manager we were about to see was simply not there. A bit startled, but with a new time for the appointment in the afternoon, we quickly left and drove towards the Sky Bus headquarters. When we drove past some strolling dogs, Michael told me that nearly every house has its own dogs. Unlike in Europe, they are roaming the streets during the daytime, but always return home at some point. As it happened, many different Chinese companies started to invest heavily into Ethiopia and the number of Chinese workers increased rapidly. Many dogs disappeared soon after and it caused a scandal when it came to public notice that some of the Chinese simply satisfied their culinary preferences. However, to the Chinese defence it has to be mentioned that they simply assumed that these dogs were not the property of anybody. Also, the mystical disappearance of dogs stopped shortly after.

When we finally arrived at Sky Bus, similar to ETC we were given visitor passes in exchange for our ID’s. Unfortunately also similar to ETC, nobody was there to talk with us about our proposal. After half an hour, we simply decided to get ourselves another appointment for the following day and went for some lunch. We caught up with Beyene and had some more traditional Ethiopian food, before we tried – again – our luck with ETC. This time, everything worked out well and we were welcomed by Mr. Kashun, the Cooperate Business Manager. The following conversation was another proof for the feasibility of our business idea. In fact, ETC looks into such business opportunities with

ETC Logo

great interest and urged us to send in our proposal.We also received information on the revenue sharing model and many other issues related to a potential cooperation. We will see if cooperation is finally possible, but the first impression is good and we are sure that Arada Services has a fair chance to make it happen.

Afterwards, all of us went for some shopping around the old part of town. For myself, I bought shoes and picked a mobile phone, laying between “Blaek Bcrries” and several I-Phones. Especially all the leather articles were super cheap and of really good quality, most likely because Ethiopia is a major producer and exporter of leather. A hand-made pair of shoes costs between 10-15 Euros, before negotiating. Numerous Rolex watches blinked at me, but I could not get rid of the nagging feeling that 150 Birr (~ 7 Euros) would most certainly not provide me with an original version. I rather bought some Steven Covey and Dale Carnegie books for one Euro each and was happy enough. Later on, Beyene, Dilu and me found ourselves in a local bar and enjoyed happy hour prices. That meant approximately 40 cents for a large drafted beer and 1.50 for Dilus burger.  Later on, Michael and his wife’s sister invited me to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant with live music and dance performances. Servants hurries around with cans and bowls in order to wash the customer’s hands directly at the table. As mentioned in the Monday’s blog post, Ethiopian food is eaten with the right hand only, which is the reason for this custom. And as I also mentioned, it is excellent. Everybody with a preference for spicy food should visit an Ethiopian restaurant, I can only recommend it. We spent around 3 hours in this place, enjoying the performance which introduced the dancing styles of different tribes. Around 10 PM, Michael and I rejoined with Beyene and Dilu to explore Addis Ababa’s nightlife. Different places waited for us and we certainly had a good time, even though I couldn’t say that of me the following morning…

Second Day and first Business Meetings

Tuesday, 11^th of January

My phone tired to wake me up the next morning at 8 AM, but I initially resisted successfully. Yet, when it was 8.30, the meeting at 9AM suddenly came back to my mind and I quickly dragged myself to the bathroom and got myself ready. The short breakfast was followed by a meeting with Michael and Dilu, where we discussed several issues related to the visit of Yetim at 10 AM. We ensured to go with the same expectations to our first real point of the Ethiopia Agenda. Well prepared we made our way to the office and were welcomed by the CEO, Ibrahim Muzeyen, and some of the technical staff members. The following conversation reached from simple exchange of ideas to revenue sharing models and even more complex technical issues. All in all, Yetim seems to be a very worthy partner for

Michael and Dilu next to some Yetim Servers

cooperation. Already providing payment solutions in rural areas, it should not require too much effort for a cooperation of both our technical systems.In fact, we agreed on another meeting on Thursday to resolve remaining technical uncertainties. It seems as if Arada Services found itself an attractive solution for its money transfer issues.

After a delicious lunch, our way led us to Selam Bus, one of the operators we already contacted during the Summer of Startups. Berhanu Kebede, the General Manager, welcomed us in his office and Michael started briefly to explain our business idea. Despite the fact that we already got a positive respond in the summertime, it took us by surprise how openly Mr. Kebede agreed on our proposal. “You are here exactly at the right time with your business idea. We were just starting to inform ourselves about such ticketing possibilities.” was the first reaction. Following was a very promising conversation about revenue sharing opportunities and potential improvements for the customer. We agreed on submitting a proposal as soon as possible and that all parties would stay in touch for further cooperation.

The two important points on our daily agenda were dealt with and it was already quite late. A short stop at a café revealed an interesting hotel close by and when we found out that the rent for a comparable room was 30 $ less per night, it was quickly decided to move me there the next morning.

Michael and some Christmas leftovers

Reaching my old hotel around 7 PM and nothing more to do, I started to write the first blog entries and tried to catch up with some people back at home. This proved to be quite demanding, with Skype only delivering ¾ of any conversation. Time went past quickly and only at 01.30 AM my bed seemed tempting enough to finally get some sleep.

First day, first experiences

Monday, 10^th of January

09.45 AM:  the hotel telephone ended my well deserved (and much needed) sleep earlier than I hoped. Michael already waited downstairs and the receptionist was kind enough to inform me of his arrival. After quick refreshment I found my way to the breakfast place, where Michael already met by chance a former fellow student, now working as one of the hotel managers. Addis Ababa has roughly 3 million citizens, but even there these things seem to happen. Some fruits and an omelette later we made our way outside to explore the surrounding of my place. The first thing that popped into my eyes were the numerous construction sites, which can be found everywhere. Most of these buildings, all around 10 levels high, are constructed by hand, using very adventurous wooden scaffolding, nailed and wired together in a way that seems everything but trustworthy or stable to me. Apparently, all the concrete is carried up by hand where it is poured into wooden forms and – after drying – connected to other units. High-rise buildings entirely made by hand,definitely a new experience for me.

We made our way to one of the local churches. This one also was hardly comparable to ordinary European city churches. Surrounded by a massive gardening complex, many people do visit the place during the entire day to pray. There is also a church service every day. Religion plays a much bigger roll in people’s life then I am used to it. On our way to a restaurant called Amsterdam we also passed a sign pointing the way to the nearby North Korean Embassy, most certainly another uncommon experience for Europeans. My attempt to visit the place was torpedoed by Michael and Dilu, who were not particularly keen to come close to this place. If this was due to certain events or only because they were hungry, I cannot tell…

Finally, we arrived at the restaurant and ordered some Ethiopian food. For myself, I ordered Firfir, a traditional Ethiopian dish consisting of some kind of thick stew – called Wat – served on top of Injera. This is a large sourdough flatbread made from the Teff grass. The seeds are used to produce fermented dough, from which the bread is made. The way to eat the dish is to use pieces of the bread to pick up the Wat. Ethiopians eat with their right hand and don’t use cutlery. It was the first time I ate this way and – to my own surprise – I managed to NOT make a pig of myself, even though Michael and Dilu cast me some amused glazes.

With our meals finished and our bellies filled, we moved on to another café and discussed the schedule for the upcoming days. Many meetings were lying ahead of us, at least two per day, including several bus companies and payment solution providers. In addition to our schedule, we discussed several issues regarding Arada Services and also honed our executive summary. The time past by quickly and in the early evening, Michael and me went to pick up the car we rented for this week. Using the local “busses” on the way to the pick-up place was also an adventure by its own. Little vans are roaming the streets, driving to different directions, depending on the passenger demand. For one Birr – probably 5 cents – one can hop on and has to indicate where to stop on the road when wanting to leave the van. Squeezed together with 3 other people on the rear bench, we made our way to pick up the car. And what a car it was! The Toyota is at least 25 years old and the indicator shows 400.000 km. Michaels only comment: “Well, either someone turned it back or it already reached 999.999 once and is on the second round.” Also, it somehow is able to charge itself with electricity and always when you touch the frame or another piece of metal, you get an unpleasant shock.

In addition, the fuel was nearly running out and we made our way to a fuel station. Well, when I am driving a car in Germany and I have to get gasoline, I would not stop at a station with a queue. There are just too many and I would consider it a waste of time. However, in Addis, we drove to various fuel stations and all were either crowded to an extend that queuing didn’t make sense or they were simply out of fuel and closed. Finally, we found a station that seemed not as crowded and after 45 minutes in the line, the little red lamp next to the tachometer stoped blinking at us and we hopefully fuelled it up enough for the rest of the week. It was already 9 PM by then, so we decided that it would be the best to return to our homes and get to bed early. A busy day was ahead of us with the first meeting already scheduled for 9 AM. I quickly had some dinner at the hotel restaurant and went to sleep soon after, not without noticing that I was sunburned already after my first day in Addis Ababa.