Business, Tourism and Top Models: The New Face of Ethiopia

In the heart of Africa, Ethiopia is a true goldmine! With extraordinary growth rates year after year, the country is experiencing an economic miracle.

Construction sites, brand new buildings, business districts… the country is modernizing at full speed and the number of millionaires has exploded in recent years. Like Tadiwos Belete, real estate mogul and one of most powerful men in the country. His next project? To buy an entire island and build the most luxurious hotel complex in Africa.

The country also attracts foreign businesses; The Chinese, intrigued by cheap land and an inexpensive workforce and the French, who are setting up vineyards to compete with the South-African monopoly on wine.

Addis-Abeba, the Ethiopian capital, has become a recruiting ground for the continent’s top models. As for tourism, the country attracts 900,000 visitors each year, drawn in by the breathtaking landscapes and extreme sports: tourists pay to hike up active volcanos or even hand-feed wild hyenas.

And yet, while Ethiopia may be one of Africa’s most dynamic countries, social inequality and poverty have far from disappeared. As a result tensions are growing, and those left behind by this economic boom are calling for rebellion.