Over the last 12 months, there’s been a bit of a race among a number of entrepreneurs to establish a home food delivery business in Addis Ababa. The number of people and investors wanting to enter into this sector of Addis’ booming restaurant scene (I know of three already), really does speak volumes for the potential within this market, and bodes well for those among us in search of take-away!

One businessman who’s leading the race is Feleg Tsegaye – founder of Deliver Addis, which launched in early 2015. Deliver Addis is an online platform through which you can place an order with a number of partner restaurants and have food delivered to a chosen address within an hour.

I had the pleasure to meet with Feleg recently, to find out a little bit more about how the business works and where the inspiration came from. Feleg has been working 12+ hours a day, six days a week for over a year now to get this off the ground…it’s clear to see this is not just a business, but a personal passion and challenge. Having most recently lived in New York (the home of takeout!) and with a background in IT, he seems just the man to get this race off to a booming start

I have a feeling that over the next year, the home food delivery industry in Addis will really push boundaries and change expectations around cuisine, eating out and customer service – I for one am looking forward to seeing where it goes! Visit http://www.deliveraddis.com to find out more about Deliver Addis.

What has the journey been like from concept to launch of Deliver Addis?

The concept came to me a few years ago when working as an IT consultant in Addis – I don’t like cooking, was working long hours and having been brought up in the USA, I was used to being able to order takeaway food – I couldn’t see any reason why this couldn’t work in Addis Ababa. In March 2014 I set up a small private pilot, with a quick website and a few restaurants on board. I tried the concept out on friends and their networks; I needed to be sure that the concept of home delivery could work in Addis. The pilot helped me to build data around the average order amount and frequency of orders, so I had something to go to investors with. One day I was talking to one of my clients about this project, and they loved the idea. They subsequently become investors in Deliver Addis. With their financial input and my IT background, we were able to scale up from a basic concept to a public launch. We launched a year after the pilot in March 2015.

Can you tell me about the team behind Deliver Addis?

We’re only six months old, so our team is small and evolving. At the moment it consists of myself and several others from different backgrounds including IT, HR, management and logistics. We also count the investors as part of the team, albeit silent ones!

What have been the challenges and surprise successes since opening?

I think it’s fair to say every start-up encounters challenges, and Deliver Addis has been no exception. One of our main challenges (which I’m sure everyone will expect) is finding customers. Addis is notorious for having no formal address system and streets tend to have both formal and informal names. We get around this by customers registering their delivery locations with GPS when they create an account, but nevertheless, we’ve had customers register their location on the wrong side of town, then provide incorrect additional information and a wrong phone number. Map reading isn’t second nature to many people, so pinning your location on a map can be a huge challenge – we have incorporated geolocation to the system now to find a customers position automatically where possible.

Other challenges include the safety of our motorbike drivers on Addis roads (especially in the rainy season) and technology. Our business depends on an active phone and internet network, and there are times when one or both will go down. If this happens across the whole city, there’s little we can do and no one can place orders anyway. If it’s a localised outage however, we have to relocate the team to a back-up office in another area of Addis to ensure we’re receiving orders and can deliver.

The surprise successes, are less of a surprise, more of a relief – it works. People are ordering, restaurants are contacting us to become partners and we’re reaching the targets we set ourselves for our first six to 12 months of operation.

How did Deliver Addis decide on the current eight restaurants listed, to be your first partners?

I started by being a customer at each partner restaurant to find out if their staff are attentive, if they can turn around orders quickly, if the owners are actively engaged and if they offer take-away. There are so many new restaurants opening in Addis, and many of them are top quality, gourmet food. This doesn’t necessarily work for home delivery though, so the cuisine has to be right.

With so many new restaurants, and with our brand becoming better known, we’re now getting approached by restaurants to become partners – I’ll try every one of them myself first, and they won’t all be appropriate, but I look forward to expanding the portfolio, not least because I created this business for myself, to be able to get good take-away. As a regular customer, I’m excited to see what new things I can order over the coming months.

How do your drivers manage to find every house and office within a constantly changing city?

As I mentioned before we use GPS – it’s the only option in Addis. When someone registers for an account, they can list a number of different addresses: home, work, friends etc. They can then add notes to help the driver, along with a phone number. Our drivers have been trained to provide excellent customer service, and always do everything they can to find every customer.

How important is it for Deliver Addis to include a mix of Ethiopian and Western foods for customers?

A number of our partner restaurants do a mix of Ethiopian and Western food, making both available to customers. Interestingly though, Ethiopians can be very particular about their food. Shiro for example should be served bubbling in its pot, so turning up with Shiro that’s been travelling for 20 minutes just doesn’t work. I think it’s also fair to say that Ethiopian cuisine is quite tricky to transport – wot is generally liquid based which is prone to spilling on a motorbike if the restaurant doesn’t have appropriate packaging.

What can customers expect from Deliver Addis over the next 12 months?

Good question…a lot! The main priority is to get a wider spread of cuisines on the site; we want to have a diverse range of high quality restaurants, as that’s what our customers are looking for. We’d also like to work towards expanding our hours [most restaurants on Deliver Addis currently stop this service at 8pm] but this is going to take time as most restaurants close around 9pm. Those are the likely going to be the most visual changes and the rest will be IT improvements around functionality, so that the customer experience becomes more seamless

Someone in this business has to be a big food lover! If you could eat anywhere in the world, where would it be?

There is one place I’ve been intrigued about ever since seeing it on a programme – Noma, in Copenhagen. I don’t even know if I’d like the food, but the experimental approach they take with locally sourced ingredients is intriguing and would be quite an experience to try!

Over the last few months, an exciting new event has started taking place in Addis Ababa on the first Tuesday of every month at Asni Gallery, called ChangeMaker Tuesdays. The event aims to bring together individuals interested in sustainability in its broadest sense, to learn from one another and hear from an inspiring ChangeMaker – defined as someone who is making a positive difference for society and/or the planet.

In the last month, Addis has hosted the international Financing for Development Conference, focused on how the world will finance the new Sustainable Development Goals – the successors of the Millennium Development Goals.

It seems fitting therefore that as the world’s leaders are looking at everyone’s responsibility to make this world a better place, we interview Amy Bolger, one of the founders of ChangeMaker Tuesdays, which is inspiring and stimulating action among the next generation of leaders.

Amy has been living in Addis Ababa for over a year, initially to volunteer for the Ethiopian Midwives Association through the Australian Volunteers International. Now, she’s taking some time to invest her energy into other projects she’s passionate about, and ChangeMaker Tuesdays seems to be the top of her ‘to do’ list.

Can you please explain what ChangeMaker Tuesdays is and what it aims to achieve?

Well, ChangeMaker Tuesdays is an informal network that gathers together once a month on a Tuesday (which is lucky, because meeting on Wednesdays wouldn’t have worked well with our name!). We’re all about inspiring conversations, which works in two ways. Firstly, we invite a ChangeMaker to our monthly events to give an inspiring talk about their journey towards creating positive change. Secondly, we aim to inspire conversations among those attending our monthly events – conversations about the kind of change they want to see in Ethiopia and in the wider world, and how they will contribute to achieving it.

What was the purpose of setting up the group and how did you go about it?

Since moving to Addis last year I have heard many stories about inspiring people working at grass-roots level, and creating positive change for people and the planet. These people I was hearing about covered a varied range sustainability issues, including creating recycled paper from banana leaves, building eco-lodges from rammed earth, or setting up vocational skills training to support girls who haven’t completed their education. The more of these stories I heard, the more I wondered why there wasn’t a platform in Addis, like Green Drinks, through which they could tell their stories. In addition to this, I thought Addis could also do with an informal platform for people, especially young aspiring leaders, to get together and share ideas as well as learn from and be inspired by our guest ChangeMakers.

I talked to a few friends about creating such a platform, and before I knew it, we had a committee of six co-founders. Everyone on the committee is passionate about sustainable development, and each member brings their unique skills to the group. With this dynamite team, we pulled together our first ChangeMaker Tuesdays in June 2015, which was a great success – we were overwhelmed with the turnout and response from those who attended. The overall response was ‘keep going – we need this in Addis’.

Who makes up the ChangeMaker Tuesdays’ organising committee, and what do they bring to the group?

The founding six members consist of myself who likes to lighten the mood of each event with bad jokes; Tom who’s a sustainable development aficionado, keen photographer and the brains behind many of my bad jokes; Muluken who keeps us connected and fuelled with ideas; Ben who’s a solar technology and renewable energy guru; Sasha who’s our creative force and networking specialist; and Joanna, who supports our planning and communications.

After the first ChangeMaker session in June, we approached Yeabsira and Tatek who are both part of the Horn of Africa Leadership and Learning for Action programme, and were keen to get involved. They complement our group dynamic and skills perfectly, bringing with them some impressive links to the right networks and endless enthusiasm and energy. We hope they’ll ensure the ongoing sustainability of ChangeMaker Tuesdays.

You’ve had an impressive turn out for your first three sessions. Who is your target audience?

We are aiming to attract like-minded people who are interested in hearing about and/or creating the positive sustainable change needed to address the many challenges our planet faces. We would particularly like to inspire the young leaders of Ethiopia. We’ve had a varied range of people attend, everyone from Ambassadors to school students, Habesha’s and Farenji’s (the affectionate title given to all foreigners in Ethiopia).

How do you chose who will speak and themes for each month?

When we first started discussing what ChangeMaker Tuesdays would look like, everyone had ideas about who they would like to have speak – people they’d heard about from friends, read interviews about, or had the pleasure to work with. As a result of this enthusiasm, we started with a long wish-list of potential speakers, and we’re constantly adding to it.

Each month we look through the list and focus on someone from a different sector. For example in September we have invited a ChangeMaker to speak about Ethiopia’s Slow Food movement and in October we will hear one girls story of how an Addis based NGO have supported her and other girls returning from their experience as domestic help in the Middle East. Each speaker we have approached has been so willing to be involved; our biggest challenge is deciding who to approach…which can be hard when you have a list of so many inspiring people in front of you!

How do you involve attendees in each session?

Each month our agenda includes time to mingle (the less formal version of networking!) both at the beginning and end, and one committee member will come up with an interactive activity for people to do in groups. We see this as an opportunity to spark conversation, meet new people and understand different perspectives on issues and life. We place a lot of emphasis on having fun.

As well as this, the committee will do an introduction to engage the audience in discussing issues relating to the speaker. For example last week, our health related speaker inspired an introduction on the importance of technology and innovation in addressing key and endemic health issues. We also allocate time for a Q&A with the speaker, giving the audience the chance to ask the speaker any questions they may have about their project or journey.

What role do you see ChangeMaker Tuesdays playing in Ethiopia’s sustainability movement?

ChangeMaker Tuesdays was established to compliment the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting and inspiring action in many of the areas the new goals focus on. The goals are grouped into 17 ‘themes’, and so far, our three speakers have touched on three themes including ‘Good Health’ with Dr Yohans talking about founding Hello Doctor, ‘Responsible Consumption’ with Tesfaye’s paper recycling business and ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ with Sosina’s Gamo Circus School.

We see the Sustainable Development Goals as tools that are getting individuals involved, from all walks of life and every country in the world, in making this planet a better place. ChangeMaker Tuesdays has a very similar ethos at its core – we’re about sharing and exploring sustainable development solutions, inspiring action and inspiring the next generation to take the plunge and in the words of the great Ghandi, ‘be the change they want to see in the world’.

Where would you like to see ChangeMaker Tuesday’s in five years’ time?

We’re an ambitious committee, and have so many ideas already, despite only being three months in! One thing we’ve always agreed on, is that ChangeMaker Tuesdays should evolve and change depending on what attendees want it to be. It should be led by them, and as someone that won’t be living in Ethiopia forever, it needs to be Habesha led and directed. We ask at the end of every session for feedback, so I hope that in five years’ time, it will look the way our attendees want it to look.

We have some big ambitions for how we can have break-away ChangeMaker weekends, leadership workshops, and special panel discussions. I’d also love it if in five years’ time, we are able to invite a ChangeMaker to speak who first attended ChangeMaker Tuesdays as a guest, and has since gone on to create their own change. Finally, I’d be incredibly excited if we could launch ChangeMaker Tuesdays in five more African capitals…there’s a phenomenal number of ChangeMakers in Africa to give a platform to!

What five words would you use to describe ChangeMaker Tuesdays?

It’s funny you should ask that question; when we sat down at the very beginning as a group to define what ChangeMaker Tuesdays would look like, we made a list of words that describe what it is, and what it is not. They look something like this…

It is: Inspiring, positive, grassroots, educational, community centred, a sharing environment, empowering, fun, light, energetic, welcoming, collaborative, for social and environmental entrepreneurs, offering simple solutions

It is not: formal or serious, preachy, doom and gloom, boring or stuffy, cliquey, just for ferenji’s, just for the NGO/Development sector

Sorry, did you say five or fifty words?!

Who would be your dream guest speakers?

There are a number of people throughout history that have been such influential and phenomenal ChangeMakers, that they stand out time and again as people I’d love to meet and hear from. A couple of these would be the earlier mentioned wise man Mahatma Ghandi, and of course Nelson Mandela whose words have stuck with me, particularly ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’.

However closer to home, one very inspirational Australian leader that I’d love to have speak at ChangeMaker Tuesdays, is Julia Gillard. As the first female Prime Minister of Australia, Julia is a personal inspiration – particularly her passion for global basic education for all, and her killer speech calling out misogyny in Australia.

Finally, John Oliver would definitely be a dream guest speaker of mine; I like the way he uses humour and sarcasm to rant on about important issues such as climate change, human rights and gun control. He makes difficult and often contentious issues mainstream and accessible.

You can keep up to date with ChangeMaker Tuesdays by following them on Facebook. Their events take place on the first Tuesday of every month, at Asni Gallery, from 6-8pm.

Wandering around the Artisans Bazaar in Addis this weekend highlighted the impressive culture in Ethiopia for unique, handmade, beautifully crafted items – weaving, paintings, baskets, coffee pots, natural cosmetics, scarves, the list goes on.

Amongst the traditional, are an emerging generation of artisans who are putting Ethiopia on the map for producing high-end luxury products, desired the world over. Amongst these is Abai Schulze, a lady full of business acumen, high design and a warmth that makes you want her as a friend.

Abai is Founder and Creative Director at ZAAF – a collection of luxury apparel and leather accessories produced by Ethiopian artisans. Abai combined her background in economic development and love of fine arts, to create a business that, quite frankly, wouldn’t be out of place in Paris, London or New York.

The ethos behind ZAAF however, the hands on involvement Abai has in design decisions and the personal way in which each visitor is welcomed to the showroom, is distinctly Ethiopian – reminding you that you’re in the beautiful land of artisans. Initially, Abai employed six artisans to create the first two collections; as the business rapidly builds, so too is the team, with nearly 20 staff now employed by ZAAF.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Abai recently, to find out a little bit more about ZAAF and the journey the business has been on since launching internationally in February 2014, and within Ethiopia just over a year later.

Congratulations on the recent opening of your first showroom in Addis Ababa – what is it like and has it been well received?
We were overwhelmed and encouraged with the outcome of the showroom launch. People were pleased to see ‘Made in Ethiopia’ products that have been so well received internationally, now available here in Addis.

How important was it for you to be able to retail in your home country?
It was an important move for us – we want to challenge and inspire the local design and creative class here in Addis and really pass the message that consumers do demand good quality made from the best Ethiopian materials by Ethiopia’s talented people.

Where does your interest in fashion and design stem from?
My driving passion and vision for many years was centred around using my education and experiences to create economic opportunities in my country of birth. So ZAAF comes out of a convergence of both opportunity and passion. I understood the value of my education and strong family support in the US, and the possibilities to capture and capitalize on the potential and trends of my home country.

My passion for design and creative expressions has always been a driver for me, even though I spent my university years focused on the hard facts of economics. Nonetheless, I was able to continue my creative development and skills with a fine arts minor.

How do you source the materials for your products, and how important is it for you to source from within Ethiopia?
Ethiopia is home to the largest population of livestock in Africa, with over 40 million people owning livestock. This country produces some of the finest leather in the world. All the raw materials at ZAAF (leather and handwoven textiles) are sourced from Ethiopia and handcrafted by local talented artisans. We strongly believe that real economic development is about producing top quality products using unique cultural, natural, and human resources that can compete anywhere in the global marketplace.

What has been your proudest moment with the business?
Unfortunately, the “Ethiopia brand” is stuck in the stereotypes of hunger and instability, rooted in events of the past. This brand needs to be updated to reflect the reality of the nation’s amazing growth and human and cultural capital. Our mission is to celebrate and promote Ethiopia as well as the entire continent’s rich cultures through exacting top quality products made with indigenous natural resources by our gifted and brilliant artisans.

One of my proudest moments, was seeing this mission in action – seeing ZAAF on the runway at New York Fashion Week, and being highlighted by top fashion magazines including Elle, Lucky and Vogue amongst others.

Your bags have a signature (and beautiful!) block of fabric included. What has been the inspiration behind the designs in your collection?
For us, it is important that our consumers feel the sense of where their products are made. In our collections, we integrate ageless patterns created on traditional looms, with leather. The fabrics we use are made by talented weavers, who meticulously count knots to produce patterns with a fantastic combination of colours and styles – their skills are handed down through generations. ZAAF utilises these resources in a way that means we can support and advance traditional industries to cater to the global market, without compromising their identity. We merge traditional techniques with modern designs.

Where would you like to see ZAAF Collection in five years’ time?
In five years, we hope to create a luxury lifestyle brand – under the notion of “Made in Africa” that recognises brilliance in craftsmanship and artistry while celebrating the rich heritage and culture of the continent.

If you had just five words to describe ZAAF Collection, what would they be?
Classic. Chic. Authentic. Functional. Bold.

If you could give one of your bags to anyone, who would it be and why?
It would be an honour if we could give one of our bags to Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. She has her own unique sense of classic style – one of elegance and grace. I think one of our ZAAF bags would complement her very nicely.

As a successful Ethiopia business woman, what advice would you give to Ethiopian girls and women seeking to achieve their dreams?
Find something that you are truly passionate about and build a vision for it – think big, but start small. Surround yourself with people who can challenge you and hold you accountable for your actions and progress.

Indeed, this is advice that everyone can take something from. Abai is an inspirational example of a lady who knows what she wants to create, and no matter what obstacles confront her, she finds a way to make it happen. I get the feeling that what she has created is on the cusp of exploding into a really exciting brand, recognised the world over.

ZAAF’s showroom is just behind Shala Park, in Addis Ababa – I urge you to make the time to go for a visit…you’ll want to leave with one of everything!

Photos courtesy of Kyle La Mere