Mohammed Al-Amoudi is a God-like figure in Ethiopia. A poor country in which money can buy you a lot of friends and short-cuts.
This is not, by any way, accusing Mr. Al-Amoudi of any wrong doing. I have no personal vendetta against the guy. I don’t know him, so i can’t say he is a corrupt guy. For all i know, he had so far invested heavily in his country and in the process managed to change hundred’s of thousands of people’s lives.
Monopoly In Ethiopia
On the surface what Al-Amoudi had done for his country of birth – Ethiopia – is something that deserves recognition and appreciation. I believe he is a patriot and a shrewd business-man.
The question is however, “Is He Monopolizing The Ethiopian Economy?”
Yes he is!
In simple Economic term – - -
Monopoly (also “Pure monopoly”):- is a persistent situation where there is only one provider of a product or service in a particular market. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods.
Even though Mr. Al-Amoudi’s intention is to support his country in any way he thinks is good for the economy and for his business, he has to also lead by example for other small businesses to follow.
Mr. Al-Amoudi had so far made smart investments in sectors that are highly profitable. These are sectors some investors in Ethiopia would love to take a part in. And the government is clearly catering to Mr. Al-Amoudi’s needs.
He has so far come ahead of other investors in getting the best deal in the government’s privatization process. If there is a single individual or business that could always mange to outbid any competition, by default that is a prime example of Monopoly.
Mr. Al-Amoudi knows he has a monopoly on many sectors of
Ethiopia’s economy. This has to stop. The government cannot have it both ways.
With Al-Amoudi around, it would be very hard for most investors to get the best of deals.
What would the Ethiopian government do if there was no Al-Amoudi? It would sell its properties to the highest bidder regardless, right?
So you can see how other investors are getting the short end of the stick every time – when it comes to prime investments.
Investors in Ethiopia cannot compete with the richest black person in the world with an estimated net worth of $9.2 Billion Dollars. They must also not accept or bid for any deal that is left over from Mr. Al-Amoudi. The game should be played in fair and transparent manner. There should be strict laws that must be implemented to monitor such type of tricky monopoly in Ethiopia.
I had chosen to take a good look at Mr.
Al-Amoudi’s investments in Ethiopia and i must say he and his board of advisers had done a fine job of picking the best investments Ethiopia had to offer.
His investments range from Banks, Steel industry, Mining, Leather industries, Coffee and Tea plantation, Hotels, Construction, and soft drinks to name a few.
There are few who would argue my view point and i welcome those disagreements. But there is a clear sign of monopolization here by
Al-Amoudi and the government is encouraging it.
His insatiable appetite for prime investments in Ethiopia should be curbed immediately. His money so far has bought him an influence that reaches all the way to our
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.He is arguably the only investor in Ethiopia tat regularly wines and dines our Prime Minister. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had shown a keen interest in this particular guy. He understands his pockets are deep enough to attain a lot of his ambitions in Ethiopia. Also, they both understand they are in a win-win situation by forging a unique bond between them.
One thing is for sure, we need
Mr. Al-Amoudi and many of his kind for Ethiopia to go forward and compete against other countries economically, but we can’t afford to sell our country builders and investors short for the sake of one tycoon.
With that being said, Ethiopia should be applauded for the progress it had made so far in the past two decades.
I’d love to hear your perspectives on this- leave a comment if you have anything to say…
Filed under: culture Tagged: | abesha, al amoudi, culture, ethiopia richest, ethiopians, forbes,habesha, sheik al amoudi, world's richest
Back home, when one opens up a cafe then after a month 10 other cafe’s are opened around that cafe. Thats the Abesha way of business venture. Lacks originality.
Same thing with Al-Amoudi. The difference is, he buys those competitors around.
i totally agree with you. This is what i usually argue with my friends – the guy is monopolizing the country period.
So who should compete with him?You?
Very interesting, yea. Maybe.
No how about any other angel other investor? Or even a complete stranger from the outside? That is an idea.
Are you saying he has no competition? I hope not. He just has all the politicians in the world in his pocket.
Are we become jealous about ppl whom do big thing 4 thier country?
Monopol?? Hell No!! He must work wit Goverment of Ethiopia – as we know 4 everything U do 2 be a Profitable in a business – pay twice or more.
So dear Abesha buna bet let him(Al-Amoudsi) do something at least helps Ethio-ppls dream.
I am PROUD of him that he choose Ethiopia, rather than China, India, Tiwan or Kenya.
Hope U R old enough 2 compaire wat ethiopian Rich ppl or Goverment do 2 thier own ppl beside ERE GORAW – AKAKI ZERAFF (WAR) => Economical.
Akenbalo
shek alamouden! he have money ,he can do any thing to change even today my people problem in Ethiopia.but the shek ? is buying sisters leately he is like a pimp.he could change many life in our country,but what a waste .
I never thought I would say this but thank God for the Chinese in Ethiopia, as they are the only competition for this shiek.
Ethiopians are always quick to critize this man. But the real question is what have you done for Ethiopia?
He’s done soo much for so many Ethiopians. We should be grateful that there is an Ethiopian who is not only capable but willing to do something for his country.
I know plenty of rich Ethiopians in the diaspora that has done nothing for Ethiopia.
You should not blame the gentleman for investing his money, taking risks and employing thousands of people. The mere fact is if investors feel the country is relatively secure and their investments will bring a competitive risk adjusted returns they will make those investments. At this time he is one of the only such investors. We hope in the near future there will be more other foreighn and Ethiopian investors to do so.
you are so cuite.
hey lee, we know, and he is taken lol sorry.
I have read few article that you wrote. It is very amazing that there are Ethiopians like you. YOu are very accurate in most of what you say, and your challenges and questions you raise are on so many Ethiopians’ mind.
You put your thoughts into amazing words and you have my respect.
Keep doing what you’re doing and remember you speak for some of us.
Thanks Dr. Ethiopia
It is great article, as far the fore mentioned figure concerned, it is realy hard to judge or blame because you can not blame some one who feed thousands of people, sponsor sport games, construct hospitals colleges, usually help needies…etc. on the other hand i was always wondering why this guy is not interested in investing like on large scale irrigations such as what egyptians are doing on the Nile river. Because if he does that we can not wait for the rain to produce our daily bread and also the image of our country might be changed how ever as abuisness man i dont think this guy cares to all these he only invest in areas where he can get profit. This is only fault of our current unstructured regime.
So many views – The one thing I have to say is – DO YOUR THING!
If one does not invest, there will not be any economic growth – be it government or the private sector.
Ethiopia has been a torn country for decades, politically and economically. Just recently people have been going back and investing in the country, I believe Al-Amoudi is the one that gave the confidence to the Ethiopian people to invest in the country, create jobs and push for improvements. Yes, competition is to a minimum, but this takes time – in business the highest bidder always wins. This is not a socialist society, well I hope not – we lived it, did not like it and asked for change, therefore we have Meles. Back to competition – You have to remember Ethiopia is at the beginning of growth, give it time, and be patient, this will all work out in the end. The more educated people we have going back to Ethiopia, the more it will empower the country. Remember with out investors there will not be any economic growth, Al-Amoudi is the one who is paving the road for others.
Other investors are not “getting the short end of the stick”, they did not have the highest bid, and therefore they are not granted the bid\investment\contract….. Government usually sells property to the highest bidder, there is no shame in this – it’s what government does with the money, that’s what infuriates\upsets people. Also, it all depends what the investor wants to do with the “prime investment” – For example – if one wants to build a coffee shop versus the other investor wants to build a luxury Hotel, the government will favor the Hotel, I hope, since this creates jobs and benefits the government, then the coffee shop. It all depends on the investment and the capital invested in the project. Yes, it is hard to compete with the 77th richest person in the world, but sometimes it’s not destined to be, move on to the next investment. You have to look at the whole picture, the jobs created, the countries economy and the opportunity that investment opens to other businesses.
“They must also not accept or bid for any deal that is left over from Mr. Al-Amoudi”
You speak of it as if the property is available – from my understanding he had a vision for the Sheraton and its location. Did you have that vision? In business you have to vision the outcome, it might not be your idea, but the vision has to be within you. If he did not have that vision, I bet you anything, that the location will still be the same till this day. Is that your vision for Ethiopia? Would you have the capital to relocate the people and build that investment, create the jobs and increase the tourism in Ethiopia? You might, if you do – have a vision and help the country, do not discourage investors – encourage!
.
There should be strict laws that must be implemented to monitor such type of tricky monopoly in Ethiopia.
I think you have it wrong here – the monopoly is not Al-Amoudi, the government is the biggest monopoly, so your argument here does not make sense. A monopoly can not impose laws against themselves. Once they have privatized the telecommunication, electrical, water…..then they might impose regulations.
I can keep on going on – but I think you get the point.
One Love
@Selam I must say i enjoy your taking the time to put in your 2 cents. Selam i think we agree to the extent Ethiopia desperately needs investors, and specially those from the diaspora and international institutions. For that matter, one can cite South Africa’s expedited progress in the short time since Apartheid.
I am baffled here as we seem to agree in everything. I say this because, after all that you have said you finished it by adding – “There should be strict laws that must be implemented to monitor such type of tricky monopoly in Ethiopia.
I would like to say this. In no where in the world has this system of pleasing the big fish worked. The politics involved here is obvious. If you were able to afford the same investment project as Al-Amoudi, he would be their preferred owner.
That’s why developed nations have anti-trust laws, which governs such control and monopoly by a single organization. Monopoly is in the end crippling to any market that wants to consider itself as free market. In the event, that this individual is no longer able to afford all these projects, it is guaranteed to bring a whole economy down. Need i mention the power it assigns to one individual?
It is the equivalent of economic autocracy.
I could go on about the disadvatages of such a dumb and desperate action. But i hope i made my point.
Has Al-amoudi employed a great deal of people in Ethiopia? Yes. But the very people you seem to think has benefited from his investments could very much be tomorrow’s victims if we are not careful.
In the end, we will be the ones forced to dust off his mess.
When there is a genuine, vibrant, and competitive market, the consumers benefit as competition brings about beneficial and lower price to the consumers.
The picture is indeed bigger than what you think it is.
You almost making me sound like i am hating on the guy, and i am convinced what i am doing is far from that. If anything, i am looking out for the people.
I appreciate the thoughtful comment.
what i feel sometimes is that people are not worryng purely for economical terms instead for some decisive hidden feelings like his religion though they are not putting it straight forward.Why not ask the givernment to have a strick regulation to controol monopoly in the country with out again and again mentioning alamoudi who is really a saviour of many lives there
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From yours truly,
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he is arole model to new generation. but he never give us clear picture what he was doing before he involve into Real State. we need to learn .i dont like to give money to some one but u have to teach them the financial intelegent to wake up inside of them.
i admire him every body he have to ask himself what can i learn from amoudi.