BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
Today’s Herald Guest is Animaw Alemu, an all-rounded entrepreneur in the making. Animaw started his business with a lorry he obtained from his brother as a gift. By working day and night he promoted his business to a higher level and now engages in exemplary activities in the import, export and manufacturing sectors.
Born in Sekela woreda of Amhara State where the world’s longest river, the Blue Nile, originates Animaw has served in the Ethiopian National Defense Forces. Following that he studied management through distance education.
Animaw is now engaged in the import export and manufacturing industry sectors. He ventures exemplary ideas of business that are beneficiary not only for him as an investor but for the country as he intervenes in areas that need the courageous venture of the investor.
As an entrepreneur, Animaw mostly underlines a principle to prioritize the benefits of the nation and the people rather than merely maximizing personal profit.
During his interview with The Ethiopian Herald recently, he pinpointed the main areas where and how the private sector should work hard, and be sincere to the business and the nation. Have a nice read!
What were the challenges you faced as a start-up?
As I started my business with one truck I have faced problems to fulfill accessories and other services. I continued working in my brother’s company where he exported sesame. I worked hard and with maximum honesty as General Manager to make it profitable. So, in addition to the truck, my brother also allowed me to share a quarter of the income from the export of sesame from Humera through Sudan. This helped me to quadruple the number of trucks in two years.
Then I joined the export market. By the time I joined, the export market was very interesting. Not many exporters are involved in the business. This created an environment where the market had a smooth flow in one or two directions.
With this performance, I was able to request a bank loan. The banks also consider only the clarity of your documents or records that show your good performance. In due course of time, I have managed to reach A-level clients at the banks.
You are engaged in many sectors of the trade like mining, petroleum, water bottling … etc. How do you select the sectors that you are engaged in?
I used to work in the import and export sector originally. Our exports mainly focused on sesame, coffee … etc. We are now transiting to the manufacturing industry. Now what is officially inaugurated is the water bottling factory. Other than the export sector we are now producing electric poles in our factories in Kombolcha and Mojo towns. We have contributed a big share in alleviating the shortage of poles for electric power transmission and telecommunication lines. This is a need-based production as it responded to the looming shortage of poles in the country.
When we do business we should also see national responsibility beyond personal gains. In this case, we were able to produce the necessary amount of poles as the clients for the concrete poles collaborated in alleviating the shortage of inputs like cement.
We have a plan to establish a car assembly line in Gelan town. We also aspire to engage in petroleum and gold mining. We are now working in Dima town of Gambella. We are transforming from traditional to modern gold mining. When we do these mining activities we aspire to contribute our share in alleviating the foreign currency shortage of the country.
Our concrete pole factory is also transforming the country’s electric power grid from wooden to concrete poles. Recently, we will inaugurate sport petroleum which is imported from abroad and distributed for the local market.
What kind of support do you expect from the government?
We want government support like any private sector. But we understand the current situation of the country and the world at large. So we do not expect that much support from the government at this moment.
But we would like to stress the need to give due attention to electricity supply. In this regard, we have enjoyed due collaboration from principals of electric power supply in Oromia State have collaborated with us to access electric power connections to our industries in a short period.
I believed that we have received more support than we requested.
There are many challenges to doing business, which even baffle experienced entrepreneurs. What do you do when you face such challenges?
There were challenges in export. It is our career document that matters. Otherwise, you won’t face financial problems. We didn’t face any problems as the time we started the business was an optimal one. That means there were not too many exporters in the field. Now we are facing a contest from many exporters that do the job unprofessionally. This complicates the job now. All of us know this. Previously we take time to contemplate. Some of the exporters rush to get the loan only. But they have no idea about the business. They do not calculate their gains and loss in advance. These challenges came only recently. They have affected our possibility of accessing the loan. Now, many enabling situations like loan facilities are getting weaker. We hope this would improve in the future.
Previously, the government used to share with the exporters some 50 percent or 30 percent of the foreign currency obtained from the export. This encourages exporters to work more. The exporter would search for all means to export as many items as possible seeking to maximize his benefit.
There is a shortage of foreign currency in our country. How are you trying to overcome the challenges?
So far we have been using the LC that we opened earlier, exports we did before and some support from the government. But by now it is difficult to import. That is why I urge the government to revise the permission for exporters to retain a portion of the foreign currency like 50 percent or 70 percent.
You have now started bottling water. And the water is destined for export too. How do you see the potential of the country to export bottled water?
Doing a water business is my longtime dream. God willing my dream has come true. What motivated me was that I observed the demand for water in the Middle East where I export other items. For instance, I received an order for the export of 5 million bottles of water from Qatar, where the world cup is underway. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the world cup due to some gaps. But the brand and design have received big acceptance. The quality of water in Ethiopia is good and we will start exporting water recently to Saudi Arabia. As to the Minister of Industry our company is the third one to export water.
To lift the economy, one good measure is the peaceful conclusion of the war. Now that the war concluded, the next step that the government has to do is to increase the involvement of the private sector. This is my interest. The government should also involve selected entrepreneurs in some national meetings as they can contribute some ideas. The collection of these ideas is going to benefit the country in the end. When the government revises policies and comes up with reforms in the economy it is advisable if it raises the involvement of the private sector.
What is the plan of your company?
Our plan as a company is to engage in activities that can benefit the nation and its compatriots. When we do our jobs like export, we do not merely focus on the profit we obtained but also on recognition for our quality works. As an employer, we also aim to promote our employees. Promoting employees is not only a matter of paying them a salary. We help them to become entrepreneurs. For instance, so far some of our employees have resigned from our company and started their own businesses. Just as I mention my brother’s name for my success, I am sure these people would mention my name when they succeed. Helping others to be successful is an enjoyable feat.
Thank you very much!
My pleasure!
The Ethiopian Herald December 3/2022
