Gemechis Ejeta, Ethiopia, Cohort 10, Business & Entrepreneurship
If you go to Ethiopia and do not eat Injera, you have really let the Ethiopians down. A staple food in Ethiopia and Eritrea and found in many countries across the world, Injera is made with “teff”, a tiny, round grain that flourishes in the highlands of Ethiopia. While teff is very nutritious, it contains practically no gluten. It was thus a great experience for us to visit our alumnus Gemechis Ejeta, who is involved in production of this organic food.
Getting there was quite a task under the scorching sun. Located in the outskirts of Addis Ababa in Bole Bulbula, we missed a few turns until Gemechis came in his intimidating 4 by 4 pickup, a perfect ride for the weather road that we were going to use to access his factory. we got into the factory, we were greeted by the sour smell of Injera and happy staff who work for him. We had to adhere to the proper hygiene code by covering our hair and cleaning our hands before access to where the injera was being produced.
Gemechis is full of life. His passion for his work is undeniable and you could feel it from how excited he was taking us through the entire process. “We did a research and 91.5% of Ethiopians say injera is an addiction that they cannot do without”, he went on to explain, “In fact in the Lord’s Prayer, we Ethiopians normally say “Give us our daily Injera”. People will also say “Let God bless you with good Injera when they are wishing you well or blessing you.”
Rahel Moges, CEO of Ethiogreen Production and Industry PL started the company in the year 2012. She later invited Gemechis to be a shareholder of the company in 2016. Currently Ethiogreen has 65 permanent employees and 21 part time, 90% being women. Gemechis loves to empower his community and sources the raw products strictly from local farmers. The equipment in his factory have been innovated and manufactured by local artisans such as the gelatin maker and fermenting machine, “YALI RLC EA program made me a better entrepreneur. Carrying out a thorough market research gave me a much-needed paradigm shift. It also made me realize that your network determines your net worth.”
“In YALI RLC EA we learnt about paying it forward. I will empower my community in any way I can. For my employees, I sometimes pay school fees for their children with funds that I get from teaching tourists how to bake Injera as they gain new skills. It is a project I have collaborated with Travel Ethiopia PLC and so far, it has been a success”. He also offers financial literacy training for women especially in the rural areas. He buys teff from women farmers in Adaa, one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. As for his employees, he has taught them how to save in order to secure their future and he has collaborated with Enat Bank to ensure his employees have a bank account.
Gemechis gets very animated when talking about his work. You would want to relocate to Ethiopia and set up an injera factory too. With over 110 million people in Ethiopia and only 60,000 kg of injera produced, the market is certainly not saturated. His passion is infectious and has also borne results from a busi
ness perspective, “At Ethiogreen, we make about 10,000 injeras in a day. We export to our largest market, USA which is 80% of our export custome
r base. My revenue is $1 Million per annum. We also ensure that low income earners in Ethiopia have access to our products by offering affordable pricing and stocked in the local shops.” Some of the big names across the World who have had the privilege of eating Injera from Ethiopia include, Justine Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and Victoria Beckham, Fashion Designer and a former member of the pop group, Spice Girls.
What does success look like in the next five years? “I am setting up another factory that will be able to produce over 30,000 injeras in a day thus creating more employment and also increasing revenue for the company”.
Whenever you visit Ethiopia, have some Injera produced by Ethiogreen
