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Olatorera Oniru and her journey to successful e-commerce business leader

15 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Leaders

At just 29 years old, Oniru has achieved more in the last decade than many people do in a lifetime. She grew up partly in Nigeria, and partly in the USA, which provided her with a unique mix of cultural experiences and educational background. She moved to the US with her family at the beginning of high school, after which she completed a business administration degree at North Carolina A&T University in 2008.

Wall Street, Banking and Life in New York

After university, she was recruited to Wall Street where she spent two “exhilarating” years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a Senior Analyst. Africa was still on her mind however, and she always knew she would return to her homeland. During her years at Wall Street, she also served as the co-founder and president of the Network of African Professionals in New York City. Following her success in New York, she accepted a role with the Bank of Nigeria as a Senior Supervisor which she eventually gave up to complete her Master’s degree at Emory University, Atlanta. During her years in the business world Oniru traveled to over 50 cities in four different continents. This exposure to different industries, cultures and environments was instrumental in the development of her later business. She had aspirations to connect Africa with the rest of the world through something she loved: Fashion.

Unfulfilled by the Corporate World

The majority of the business plan for Dressmeoutlet was finalized while she was completing her Master’s degree at Emory. She had spent several years working for fortune 500 companies in both the USA and Nigeria and had established herself in the corporate world. Despite holding prestigious roles and earning a substantial salary, she says she never felt 100% comfortable in this environment. She felt ill at ease living in a materialistic, corporate environment, knowing the poverty rate was over 65% in her native Nigeria. She took her financial experience and business acumen and established her e-commerce fashion startup in January 2016. It has been referred to as “the Amazon of the fashion world” and essentially connects retailers and consumers via a giant online shopping database. After just six months of operation it has customers in over 15 different countries including the US and France. Although it showcases apparel, accessories and beauty products from all over the world, it strongly favors African producers, which is the motivation behind the company. Oniru wants to create global visibility for African products while creating employment and opportunities for people throughout the continent.

Big Plans for an even Bigger Picture

Oniru only thinks in grand terms. She wants her business to act as a catalyst for the African fashion industry’s emergence, while also combating cyclical poverty and youth employment in undeveloped areas. She said recently, “Success for me, means witnessing a reduction in poverty across Africa, witnessing a worldwide increase in the appreciation of human creativity.” She believes in her company 100%. Her dream of fighting youth unemployment while becoming a role model for other entrepreneurs and women inspired her. She took a leap of faith, leaving her lucrative career in finance to found her ambitious start-up venture. Fortunately, this has paid off and her website already stocks over 1000 different products from across the globe. In just six months it has become a major player in the e-commerce world, and has connected over 500 artisans with consumers. Oniru is more invested in this than most entrepreneurs, funding the startup entirely from her own savings. She explains: “I love fashion, I love the retail industry, and I love Africa. Beyond that, I have always had the yearn to go entrepreneurial and develop my own empire that would serve as a role model to other startup journeys”. Oniru’s tenacity, experience and drive are evidently a winning combination. She is committed to social change and inspired by fuelling development in Africa. If the last six months are anything to go by, this fashion retailer is here to stay.

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Tech start-up MAGNiTT and its founder Philip Bahoshy

13 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Leaders, Middle East, Technology

Philip Bahoshy and his groundbreaking company MAGNiTT are revolutionizing the start-up industry. What’s interesting is that MAGNiTT is itself a start-up firm. So how is Bahoshy simultaneously helping new companies, while nurturing his own venture through its infancy period? Bahoshy, 31, was raised in the U.K and has Iraqi roots. He obtained a BSc in Economics from the prestigious London School of Economics which he completed in 2006. In 2007, Bahoshy made a move to Dubai to work for the highly regarded management consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, where he immersed himself in the corporate world. He then made a move to Barclays Wealth in 2010 to work as the chief of staff for the CEO of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

A start-up for start-ups

His high-flying corporate career bestowed him with an acute understanding of the business and investment landscape in the MENA space. Upon completion of his Master’s degree in 2013, Bahoshy was looking to go solo and start his own firm. Armed with a slew of business ideas, he was keen to get the ball rolling; however, he struggled to find investment, guidance and concept validation. After speaking with other start-ups, Bahoshy came to realize that although Dubai was a vibrant and energetic hub for all kinds of business people, new firms weren’t always making the right connections. He described this as “start-ups struggling in isolation.” This realization gave birth to MAGNiTT, which Bahoshy founded late in 2014. He envisaged building an online ecosystem that would make life easier for start-ups to find the various supports they need, while enabling external parties to identify fledgling firms that they are interested in. Initially, MAGNiTT solely focused on linking start-ups with investment. He explained: “We identified that the real pain point in the region is access to angel funding – basically $100,000 to $250,000.” He elaborated, explaining that start-ups often struggle making the transition from setting up the firm with their own capital, to developing a viable business that is ready for substantial investment from venture capitalists. Linking start-ups with angel investors is often critical if firms are to bridge this gap.

An online pitching platform and more

Bahoshy already had other ideas about how MAGNiTT could develop and provide further services. Firstly, he realized that it can be bewildering for investors and other parties when trying to identify start-ups, and that his product needed to work seamlessly. He focused on making MAGNiTT a streamlined online portal where start-ups have to outline the core concepts of their product. They have to succinctly present their business idea and the problem it solves, their elevator pitch, their target market, the competition, and finally, monetization. External parties can filter and search profiles for concepts they are interested in, analyze the product outline, access further information and ultimately connect with firms that they want to start a dialogue with. Bahoshy was already aware that start-ups need more than just funding to get off the ground. He focused on bringing mentors, accelerator programs, service providers and co-founders to the ecosystem. For start-ups, they can request what kind of support they are looking for. According to MAGNiTT’s data, 58% of start-ups on the site have listed that they are looking for mentorship, 56% are interested in showcasing supports, while 26% are looking for legal support or backing.

Major interest, new features and the future 

In January, Bahoshy had a respectable 200 start-ups signed up to MAGNiTT. Since then the site has exploded and today there are over 1400 start-ups and thousands of users registered on the platform.The site is already helping to forge valuable connections that are taking start-ups to the next level. Bahoshy has said that he wants to bring resources such as video conferencing, legal, marketing and HR services to the site. Additionally, MAGNiTT has recently launched a blog alongside a raft of materials relevant for start-up firms. He is also looking to bring Venture Capitalists into the platform to assist start-ups later down the line. MAGNiTT is itself listed as a start-up on MAGNiTT. Uniquely, its own success is being defined by how well it creates opportunities for all of its parties. For Bahoshy it’s so far so good and he is currently in negotiations with interested investors. It looks as though MAGNiTT is set to take off while bringing other great business ideas along for the ride.

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Namibia fights to save grassland, livestock industry

12 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Environment

Namibia has launched an ambitious $2 billion effort to restore depleted grasslands that are critical to the southwest African nation’s economy. More than two thirds of the population of Namibia depends on grasslands for its livelihood. But drought, erosion, overgrazing and the encroachment of bush have drastically reduced the profitability of lives
tock farming. Experts estimate Namibian cattle farming is losing $100 million a year. At the same time, experts predict that production of course grains, which are used to feed livestock, will drop by nearly one-third in southern Africa by 2030. The projection lends urgency to Namibia’s effort to maximize feed available on its rangelands. Leon Lubbe, chief rangeland researcher of the Namibia Rangeland Management Policy and Strategy, said the goal of the project is to improve both the nutrient cycle if the land as well as the water cycle in order to halt degradation by 2030.

Biodiversity is essential

The project also seeks to restore biodiversity by nurturing key plants, practicing erosion control, reclamation of denuded rangelands, and “managing rangelands for heterogeneity rather than for homogeneity,” Lubbe said.
The restoration effort, launched in 2012, is expected to take 20 years. According to the World Bank, livestock and meat production along with fisheries, tourism and mining, are major contributors to the Namibian economy – all of which are cyclical and are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including drought. Namibia has a population of nearly 2.5 million and a gross domestic product of $11.5 billion in 2015.
Namibia also has been hard hit this year by its most severe drought in more than two decades. The president of Namibia declared a state of emergency in June amid reports of crop failures and dying livestock. Business owners in the capital of Windhoek were ordered to cut water usage by 30 percent.

Bush threatens grasslands

In addition to water shortages, the encroachment of bush on grasslands is a significant challenge for livestock farmers.
More than 70 million acres of Namibian rangeland are endangered by high-density bush.
Government-sponsored programs such as the De-Bushing Advisory Service are helping cattle farmers clear bush with training and advice on appropriate techniques and equipment as well as practices for maintaining the land and preventing the brush from returning once it is cleared.
Another promising experiment focuses on converting bush to cattle feed. A cooperative project of Namibia and Germany is testing practices in two Bush-to- Feed pilot projects. The tests are incorporating encroaching bush with other supplements to produce affordable cattle feed.

Emergency food source

A few commercial farms have already begun producing feed from bush. Organizers say Bush-to- Feed has the potential to be replicated throughout Namibia as an immediate response to severe drought in tandem with brush-clearing efforts to secure the range land in the long term.
The typical process involves harvesting the encroaching bush, milling the biomass and mixing it with suitable supplements in order to increase the nutritional content and digestibility of the feed.
Typically the projects use bush species including Acacia mellifera, Dycrostachys cinerea and Rigozum trichotomum.
While production costs are currently high, ongoing research is expected to develop more efficient practices once the pilot projects are completed in May 2017.
Experts from Namibia and around the world are expected to share best practices for reclaiming the nation’s grasslands in September during a three-day meeting of the Coordinating Unit for the National Rangeland Management Policy and Strategy.
The efforts hold potential to turn around Namibia’s struggling livestock industry, which has seen declines in recent years. A 2013 drought saw the number of cattle drop from 2.9 million to 2.6 million while sheep umbers dropped from 2.7 million to 2.2 million.

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Africa’s growth story : Positive changes and a bright future

9 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Economy

Africa is one of the fastest growing economic regions on the planet. Some say that the continent is spurring toward modernization and prosperity. Other commentators have pointed out that Africa has experienced strong periods of growth in the past that haven’t sustained long enough to affect major change on the continent.

Can Africa keep on growing?

In the 1970s, Africa saw a period of intense growth. At the time optimists were enthusiastic that Africa was emerging from the shadows, and that a future of accelerating prosperity awaited. This was not to be the case. Africa’s 70s boom was largely driven by peaking global commodity prices; when the bubble burst, Africa’s prospects deflated.

Pessimists suggested that a similar fate loomed ahead when global commodity prices inevitably declined. This dreary prediction would likely have become reality if Africa’s economic landscape was the same as in the past. Fortunately, it is not. New factors are at play and there are promising indicators that the region’s growth potential is more robust than in times gone by.

Africa’s changing relationship with resources

It would be disingenuous to suggest that natural resources aren’t still an important component to Africa’s growth. Oil exporting nations such as Nigeria and Angola have suffered in the wake of the recent global slump in oil prices, while countries such as South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are ailing from the downturn in demand for minerals. The end of the global commodities super-cycle has certainly hurt many nations in the region.

However, Africa still posted 3.0% growth for 2015-16, and is expected to bounce back to 4% in 2017 and increase from there. Considering the state of the global economy, the results could have been far more severe.

The blow has been softened by the changed dynamic of Africa’s relationship with commodities. Firstly, the emergence of powerful Asian and Middle Eastern economies has provided African nations with new outlets for their resources. Today, Africa trades as much with Asia as it does with its traditional partner, Europe.

With hungry new markets competing for commodities, African exporters have been able to negotiate themselves better deals and secure more value from their assets. Collaborative framework agreements have been struck with new partners, often seeing African resource rights exchanged for substantial infrastructure and technology packages.

Perhaps more importantly, on the whole Africa is becoming less dependent on resources. According to a report by the global management consultancy McKinsey & Company, natural resources accounted for only 32% of the continent’s GDP growth from the year 2000 through to 2008. Africa is finally cultivating a key ingredient to sustained economic success: diversity.

New business, new Africa

Across the continent, new sectors are rapidly emerging. Telecommunications and financial services are two standout examples. Renewable energy projects are flourishing and show significant potential for future growth. Similarly, agriculture is booming and holds major potential for the future given Africa’s abundance of under-utilized arable land. The emergence of middle class consumers has given rise to a vibrant retail sector that promises to expand cyclically, as ever more citizens acquire access to disposable capital. Other industries such as manufacturing, infrastructure and construction have also been strong performers.

These flourishing sectors owe much to Africa’s improved political climate. Firstly, while some individual nations are still beleaguered by wars and terrorism, on the whole Africa is more peaceful today than in past decades. This has created the stability and climate needed for new businesses to grow.

Fiscal politics have also drastically improved across many parts of Africa. While the measures utilized vary from nation to nation, many successful policies have seen widespread adoption across the continent. Such actions include large-scale privatization of state-owned services, efforts to decrease inflation and stabilize currencies, tackling foreign debt and budget deficits, new trade agreements, and the implementation of stronger legal frameworks. These measures have laid the foundations for modern, investor friendly economies that have allowed the aforementioned sectors to immerge.

Africa averaged a mere 0.9 % growth for the first half of the 1990s. Yet this year, in the wake of the commodities downturn, and the sluggish global recovery from the financial crisis, Africa posted 3% growth, a 15 year low from which it will soon recover. Ultimately, the outlook is extremely promising. Buoyed by better governance, diversification and more globalized economies, it appears that Africa has cast off its shackles to commodities and has arrived at sustainable long term growth.

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Wizzit: The mobile application servicing South Africa’s underprivileged

8 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Economy

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Turning 12 this year, Wizzit is an established name in South Africa. It connects a generation of ‘unbanked’ people with safe, reliable access to financial services including debit transactions, transfers and online banking. Similar models such as M-Pesa in Kenya have since appeared on the scene, challenging Wizzit’s industry dominance.

Removing the need to travel long distances to visit a branch has drawn a whole new demographic into banking. Where cash transactions dominated in the past, South Africa’s urban poor are slowly coming around to the benefits of using financial services to receive salary, transfer money and pay for products.

Wizzit’s beginnings, financial services for those left behind

Wizzit was established in 2004 by South African banker, Brian Richardson. He noticed a niche in the market; the opportunity to provide mobile banking services to those who couldn’t obtain traditional bank accounts due to geographical locations and economic constraints. He explains: “Of the 7 billion people on the planet, half, or 3.5 billion people, have no bank account.”

Servicing this untapped market became a priority for Richardson. Not only did he recognize a major business opportunity, but the chance to offer a service that would bring major social benefits. Since its inception Wizzit has spread to Zambia, Namibia, Rwanda and Botswana in Africa and Romania and Honduras globally, proving that a lack of access to secure, convenient and affordable banking is an international problem.

An industry first, now many have followed

Wizzit was a true pioneer in early 2000s. Its success sparked major change, prompting traditional banks to take note and develop their own mobile application models to connect with this market. In just over 10 years, Wizzit has provided over 7 million people with affordable and easy mobile banking in 13 different countries. It has also played a part in decreasing the alarming number of ‘unbanked’ South Africans from 42% in 2004 to 23.5% in 2016.

With affordability a high priority, Wizzit couldn’t compete with the big-budget advertising that the major banks used to attract new customers. They developed an ingenious way of marketing their business while simultaneously helping to address unemployment problems in South Africa: WIZZkids. These were typically young, low-income individuals who live in the communities from which they recruit their customers. They acted as salesmen for the company, signing up friends and neighbors to their bank accounts and financial services. A caveat, they have to be currently unemployed to become a WIZZkid, helping some of the most disadvantaged people and communities out of debilitating poverty cycles.

Next for Wizzit, global expansion

Wizzit has recently expanded into micro-loans for individuals and small businesses and has plans to continue both its African and global expansion. Egypt, Myanmar, Mexico and Colombia are next. According to CEO Brian Richardson, they haven’t even needed to advertise in these countries, partner organizations have reached out to them. Hopefully these countries will benefit as South Africa has, bringing banking to those who would otherwise be excluded.

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South African entrepreneur succeeds with designer socks

6 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Leaders

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Serial South African entrepreneur Nicholas Haralambous has hit it big with a line of colorful designer socks that are sold in 20 countries around the world.

Haralambous, who counts his company Nic Harry as his ninth business venture, markets socks made from environmentally friendly bamboo fiber. Nic Socks are worn by celebrities including cricket player Herschelle Gibbs, rugby player Bob Skinstad, actor Maps Maponyane, and Mmusi Maimane, leader of South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance party.

Haralambous, who is in his early thirties, got the idea for the business after buying brightly colored imported socks years ago. He did not like the quality or the design. After selling a tech venture he had founded, he used the some of the proceeds in 2012 to launch Nic Harry, a fashion venture that produces the socks and other men’s accessories.

The Cape Town entrepreneur considers socks the foundation of a classy wardrobe for men who may have limited options for accessories. Men should dress “from the ground up,” Haralambous said.

Sales increase rapidly

He sold 6,500 pairs of socks worldwide during the first year of the business. Sales grew ten-fold the second year to 66,000 pairs, and the company expected to sell more than 100,000 pairs in 2015.

His best-seller is The Barbershop sock, which is popular in 10 countries. The company has produced about 70 designs with more than 60 in stock.

Socks sell for as little as $10 a pair. Buyers can subscribe to buy one or two pairs of socks each month and the company also offers early access to new designs and loyalty pricing.

In addition to socks, the company sells accessories including scarves, ties and pocket squares.

Haralambous said the subscription model is the first in South Africa.

Success after nine tries

He said Nic Harry is his tenth business venture in a decade – and he said he has learned a lot from failure.

He didn’t intend to be an entrepreneur. He studied journalism, philosophy and politics at Rhodes University in Eastern Cape and took jobs in talk radio and newspapers.

But he had started his first business while in school, at age 19, and he left the Mail & Guardian to join a start up called Zoopy. He also co-founded Motribe, a mobile social network builder. Motribe was his most successful venture before Nic Harry and Mxit, the mobile messaging giant, bought the company.

With no business training, Haralambous said he mostly learned by trial and error.

Perseverance is critical to success

“Build, fail, learn, and repeat,” he said, emphasizing that successful entrepreneurs will need to persevere in the face of many obstacles. “You’re going to face hardship. If you want the long-term benefit you need the short-term pain and risk.”

He said it is important to see problems as puzzles to solve rather than as roadblocks.

He said he started the accessories company with about $400 he made from his previous business and increased it to more than $2,000 within six weeks.

While many doubted he could build a successful company, Haralambous persisted. He found a manufacturer who could make samples at reasonable cost. He put photos online. Within a month, he had sold more than 1,000 pairs in South Africa and farther afield in the United States and France.

Lessons for entrepreneurs

He said his success carries a lesson for fellow entrepreneurs in his country because it shows it is possible to build a valuable enterprise with only a small amount of money.

Haralambous sees himself as a disruptor in South Africa’s fashion industry, which he says has become complacent.
“The online space is going to disrupt the fashion industry in South Africa. I’m getting in early enough so I’m the leading disrupter.”

 

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Angolan President fires finance minister Manuel

5 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Latest Updates from Reuters, Politics

LUANDA (Reuters) – Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos fired Finance Minister Armando Manuel on Monday two months after the government of Africa’s biggest oil producer broke off talks with the IMF over emergency funding.

In a cabinet reshuffle, dos Santos also replaced his agriculture minister and dropped the powerful Chief of Staff in the presidency, Edeltrudes da Costa, who was implicated in a recent land eviction.

A statement said Manuel, who was appointed in 2013 and whose term had been due to run to 2017, would be replaced by capital markets commission head Augusto Archer de Sousa Hose, more commonly known as Archer Mangueira.

Over the last two years, Manuel had presided over an economic slump caused by a sharp drop in oil prices that sapped dollar inflows, hammered the kwanza and prompted heavy government borrowing.

The kwanza slid more than 30 percent against the dollar in 2015, and in January the central bank allowed for another 15 percent weakening to 155 against the dollar.

The currency was bid at 165/dollar on Monday, according to Thomson Reuters data. On the black market, it has been trading as low as 600.

The weaker currency has seen inflation soar to 35 percent from 10 percent a year ago, forcing the central bank to hike interest rates by 675 basis points since June 2015.

However, it said on Monday it had kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 16 percent at its latest policy meeting.

Before his appointment, 53-year-old Mangueira was President of Angola’s Capital Markets Commission, making him a familiar face to foreign investors, and had recently been brought onto the central committee of the ruling MPLA party.

Diplomats said his promotion was not a major surprise, especially in the wake of the government’s decision in late June to end emergency financing talks, supported by Manuel, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Angola’s economic slump has fuelled opposition to dos Santos’ 36-year rule, although the MPLA re-elected him as its leader last month ahead parliamentary elections in 2017.

 

(Reporting by Herculano Coroado; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Ed Cropley)

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Rwanda signs $818 mln deal for new international airport

2 September 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Economy, Latest Updates from Reuters

By Clement Uwiringiyimana

KIGALI (Reuters) – Rwanda has signed a deal with the African division of Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil to build an international airport at a cost of $818 million, the company and government officials said.

They said the first phase of the airport, which is part of a push to attract more tourists and boost Rwanda as a conference destination, would cost $418 million and is expected to start in June next year and be completed by December 2018.

Rwanda’s plans for the new Bugesera International Airport date back to 2011 when it first announced it was seeking bids from the private sector to design, build, finance, maintain and operate the airport through a 25-year concession.

“The first phase is for 1.7 million passengers (per year) capacity and it gets all infrastructure associated for $418 million,” Mota-Engil Africa Chief Executive Officer Manuel Antonio Mota told reporters late on Thursday after signing an agreement with government officials.

Rwanda said in a statement that Mota-Engil would operate the airport for 25 years, with an option to extend another 15 years.

When it first sought bids, the government said the first phase would involve building passenger and cargo terminals and a 4.2 km runway to handle large commercial airplanes, while the second phase would be for a second runway and more terminals.

Mota-Engil said the second phase costing $400 million was expected to raise the airport’s handling capacity to 4.5 million passengers per year.

Neither Mota-Engil nor the government said when the second phase would start.

The existing international airport in the capital Kigali has an annual capacity of 1.6 million, according to the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority, though it has little scope for expansion.

“Bugesera International Airport is coming in at the time when it is badly needed because we all know that the current airport capacity is not matching the growth of our traffic in terms of aircrafts, in terms of passengers,” James Musoni, Rwanda’s minister for infrastructure, said.

The coffee and tea producing country expects its economy to grow 6 percent this year and 2017 and then 6.5 percent in 2018.

 

(Editing by George Obulutsa and David Clarke)

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Shares in Kenya’s two biggest banks fall for third session after rate caps

29 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Economy, Latest Updates from Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Shares in KCB Group,, Kenya’s biggest bank by assets, and Equity Bank, the biggest in terms of number of customers, fell sharply on Monday for a third consecutive session as investors reacted further to a government move to cap commercial lending rates.

By 0647 GMT, shares in KCB and Equity were both down 9.3 percent on the Nairobi Securities Exchange at 24.50 shillings and 26.75 shillings respectively.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya dropped 9.7 percent to 9.75 shillings, while NIC Bank fell 8.3 percent to 22.00 shillings.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday signed into law a bill capping commercial bank lending rates in a bid to boost the economy.

Businesses in the East African country have complained that high rates, which average 18 percent or more, hobble corporate investment. Analysts, however, have said capping rates may be counterproductive as it makes banks less willing to lend.

 

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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Ethiopian runner protests for his people as he crosses the finish line at Rio 2016

29 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Sports

Feyisa Lelisa

Feyisa Lelisa, the silver-medalist in the men’s marathon at Rio 2016, will probably never return to his homeland. Despite coming second with an impressive time of 2 hours 9 minutes, he claims he will not be welcome to return to Ethiopia. At the end of the race he made a finish-line protest in solidarity with his people, the Oromo.

This protest could cost him his life or his liberty if he returns, and he now fears for the family he has left behind. The Ethiopian government claim otherwise and insist he will return a hero, and that his family are safe. However, the state-owned media did not show him crossing the finishing line, instead focusing on the winner, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. Despite the administration’s protestations it is unlikely that they will treat him kindly. The government has a veritable record of drastic crackdowns in order to quash dissent. The most recent demonstrations in Ethiopia, led to the government shutting down the country’s internet for two days, in an attempt to deter further campaigns.

With the public spotlight now on the runner, his family and predicament, the Ethiopian government is forced to deny reports that he is in danger. Whether that would be the case without international scrutiny however, remains to be seen.

Protests in Oromia, over land and resources

Since November, over 400 protesters have been killed according to the Human Rights Watch. This figure has been strongly denied by the ruling party, the EPRDF. The government has no opposition in parliament and has strong ties with world leaders in Europe and the USA, which some commentators say allows the regime to operate under less scrutiny. Many Oromo feel that their situation is ignored by the world, and with no political representation in the government their needs are not met. President Obama has even recently praised Ethiopia’s economic development and has met with leaders from the EPRDF.

The Oromo make up over a third of the population in Ethiopia and have a long history of conflict and oppression by other ethnic groups. The most recent protests began in November 2015, sparked by plans to expand the boundaries of the capital, Addis Ababa, into the Oromo land boundaries. This has since been shelved but demonstrations have been held in increasing frequency over their marginalization and political treatment. Despite being the “breadbasket” of the country, it is the second poorest region. According to the MIF, 90% of the Oromo population lives in poverty, over 80% do not have access to electricity or sanitation and a shocking 75% do not have access to safe drinking water. The Oromo people feel excluded from progress and economic developments which have been focused around the capital, Addis Ababa in recent years.

Was this a worthwhile sacrifice?

Lelisa may have sacrificed his career for this political statement; most runners have a limited physical peak and an asylum process could take years. He felt strongly that he could not overlook the opportunity to appeal to the global community in his time in the spotlight. The runner told a nearby journalist after the race: “The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere. I am protesting for my people”.

The protest has gone from a little-known political movement to an international debate. Over $130,000 has been raised via crowdfunding for Lelisa to be relocated and granted asylum abroad, probably to the USA. A legal team has been hired and is looking into ways to extract his wife and two young children from Ethiopia, to join him in his country of refuge.

Although political protests or symbols are banned by the Olympic charter, Lelisa’s decision seemed particularly apt considering almost all Ethiopian runners are ethnically Oromo. Their success is mostly disregarded by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, potentially to downplay their achievements, and to stifle exposure for their cause. His medal-winning performance in the marathon was the perfect time for him to highlight the plight of his people.

With the spotlight on Lelisa and Ethiopia, he is likely safe for now. The money generously donated will provide him with legal consul and perhaps a new life in the USA. Once the Olympics are finished, will this exposure just have helped one Oromo runner, or will it actually instigate the action needed to benefit the whole Oromo population?

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