Category: Profile

Amde Akalework: A life in leather

Ato Amde Akalework, 74, has been immersed in the leather industry since his youth. He is often described as a smart and detail-oriented manager who knew every inch of the business. We are sitting in his office in a residential…

Tell me about your stay in Strasbourg where you did your doctoral studies. Being black and Jew in France, how was it like? In France, it was different. There were strong Jewish communities there and I’ve never felt any prejudice…
Atnafseged Yilma– A life in journalism

“I don’t have an interesting back story about why I became a journalist,” says Atnafseged Yilma. The experienced journalist, who began work as a cadet journalist at Voice of Ethiopia newspaper and Menen magazine at age 22, said his chosen…
Portrait of the mystery lady- Madame Colette Habetwold

This is a tribute to Colette Valade, one of the most distinguished French citizens who, along with many others of her compatriots, protested Fascist aggression when the dictator, Benito Mussolini, invaded Ethiopia in 1933. Valade entangled herself in the fate…
Berhanu Zerihun as described by his own children

In response to my request to share with me their recollections of their father, the renowned writer and journalist Berhanu Zerihun’s children, Tsega, Tensae, and Michael kindly sent me the following snippets. Our father was a man who kept to…
Meet Rebecca Iyob, EBC’s Francophone Anchor

Rebecca Iyob is a young, confident, and professional anchor and consultant at the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporate (EBC). Having recently returned from maternity leave, which is stressful enough to anchor daily news on its own merit, she anchors French news on…