It’s business as (un)usual.
Never a dull moment.
It’s been about ten months since I arrived in Addis Ababa to lay the groundwork for the tech start-up I’d been conceptualizing for the past year (ArifMobile) and I can honestly say that I've never felt more like Indiana Jones in my life.
You never know what will happen when you pull that lever.
Addis Ababa is a remarkably small city and, if you have friends or relatives here (as most Diasporans do), you’ll soon find that you have a network much larger than you thought. During the planning phase of ArifMobile, there were some concerns that what we were doing might pose a security risk and, since I have no desire to go to Ethiopian prison, I wanted to clarify them before going further.
After talking with various family and friends about the issue, I was given a number and told not to call it until I got the go-ahead. After getting the all-clear, I found myself in front of a manager in the National Security Services and cleared it up the very next day.
Always send someone else into the cave first.
When I started the process to register my start-up as a business in Ethiopia, I made one MASSIVE mistake: I attempted to do it myself.
In fairness, I had a friend who was registering a business also and we figured we’d learn how it works in the process and be better off for it. What we didn't expect (and should have) was that nobody that’s involved in the registration process actually knows the process.
The two months we spent going from one ministry to another, waiting hours in kifle ketemas (sub-city administration offices), etc. are months that I’ll never get back.
Just hire someone to do it for you and save your sanity for later, you’ll still need it.
There is always a large boulder chasing you down a narrow tunnel.
Even after leveraging the wisdom of family and friends and sending someone to handle the paperwork for you, you’re never fully in the clear.
Regulations seem to change on a weekly basis, finding a decent office in a good location can consume another few months, and getting broadband installed literally requires the use of social engineering to get the phone numbers of as many Ethio Telecom engineers as possible. I had to call ~4 engineers every day (2-4 times a day) for over a month to get ADSL hooked up. (I know people that have been waiting 11 months and counting for Ethio Telecom to show up)
In the end though, I can honestly say it’s been worth it. So far I've met a ton of great people, got to re-connect with family, and pursue a dream I've had for many years.
I’m still trying to outrun that boulder though.
