Feeling at Home in Ethiopia

Ottawa, Canada is such a crowded place, crowded with well-educated, professional people. I have been part of that society, a top IT management consultant to the Federal Government, but now I find myself feeling more at home in Ethiopia or Ghana than I do in Canada. In the developing world, there is such a need for senior people of good will to participate with them in the building up of their society. But in the past, people like myself have mainly been present through religious charities and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), it has been a trying to help out or rescue people in trouble. Now, the way I and my colleagues are participating is through doing business, but business oriented not only to being profitable, not only a good ethical business, but also one that purely does good. Gone for us are the days of making money being some kind of virtue in and of itself, the means that justifies any ends. Now instead we are purposefully choosing ways of engaging in business that benefit the wider society, not just in terms of jobs, but in building capacity in a society based largely on subsistence farming and trading to one that participates meaningfully in the 21^st century internet economy.

So, when we plan to bring tourists trekking across mountains and plateaus, we do not go through community backyards so to speak (almost everywhere in Ethiopia is inhabited or grazed by someone) as we see fit so that our tourists get a view of this or that. Rather we will work with each community, organizing them so that they are able to appropriately welcome tourists into their communities, so that both they and the tourists end up with a good experience, and, income for the community. When we build a hotel or a resort, we will share the land with Alchemy World Projects and the One Village Foundation who respectively provide an entrepreneurship centre for young adults and an internet-connected community center for those lacking accessibility, resources and skills. Thus, the communities in which we situate a hotel will benefit in many ways from the many and diverse impacts of our partnerships in the region.

So now as my time here in Ethiopia winds down and I prepare to return to Ottawa, we already have a plan for my return for a much longer time the next time, as I find my place supporting the growth and development of this economy and these people with the many close friends and colleagues I am being blessed with. One of my many agenda items while back in Ottawa will be to prepare the way for friends and colleagues from around the world who may want to join in with us in supporting a dynamically growing economy with the experience, expertise and capital they have acquired in our lives to this point. Those who do choose to join in with us will share our common vision of not only seeking out profitable investments, but meaningful ones. I happily anticipate being able to look back with the community of friends who have joined in over the next decade or two with us, looking back and seeing just how many people have benefitted in so many ways from our choosing to join in with them in their life here in Ethiopia.

Counting down in Addis

Your brother Daniel