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Tourism Recovery through Digital Branding

3/1/2022

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Client
Confidential - Large Global Tech Company and Local Tourism Agency


Problem
Ethiopia is rich in its art, culture and history and many tourist destinations exist in the country. Foreign, and even local, tourists have become digital travelers and yet Ethiopia’s digital presence is very limited when it comes to its tourism assets. This lack of digital presence has made it difficult for Ethiopia to attract tourists in normal times, and more importantly after the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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Solution
  1. Form a partnership between a local tourism agency with forward-looking leadership and one of the largest tech companies in the world 
  2. Digitize arts, tourism and culture artifacts and make them available on a very high traffic platform 
  3. Adopt a phased implementation approach to consistently improve content and fine-tune to global/local audience
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Outcome
  1. Managed the initial phase of the program, from inception until deployment
  2. Completed storytelling and storyboarding efforts based on global standards
  3. Impact of the initial phase on National Tourism Statistics: to be evaluated a year after roll-out
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Evaluating Ethiopia’s readiness to set up an Offshore Contact Center

12/1/2021

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Client
Confidential - One of the largest Business Process Outsourcing firms in Africa


Problem
With growing demand for contact center services from large global multinationals, a BPO firm needed to find an offshore location with labor arbitrage and qualified talent


Solution
L&A designed a scoping visit to:

  1. Evaluate
    1. Talent (Quality, Volume, Cost)
    2. Real Estate (Location, Cost)
    3. Connectivity (Speed, Redundancy, Cost, Network)
  2. Assess Establishment Effort/Risks:
    1. Business Registration
    2. Local Partnerships (Recruiting, Advertising, Operations/Infra)
  3. Explore partnership with University campuses    
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Results
The Management team was able to make an informed decision for establishing a center in Ethiopia and define a execution plan accordingly
 


More insights: click here

Reference: Contact Center Landscape in Ethiopia (As of August 2021)
Note: Company logos below are representative samples only
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Establishing the first blended finance instrument to invest in Ethiopian growth startups

10/1/2021

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Background
The Ethiopian entrepreneurship ecosystem is not accurately depicted in the media. Yet, it is an ecosystem that is rich in its variety of innovation and quality of entrepreneurs. Despite the current abundance of liquidity supporting early stage entrepreneurs both through financial and technical resources, entrepreneurs are left to fall off a cliff post incubation programs.


Solution
  1. Structure an instrument that can provide a continuum of support for growth startups 
  2. Adopt a blended finance approach where equity capital is predominant and technical assistance as de-risking mechanism
  3. Conduct a thorough market-mapping of tech start-ups and high growth companies operating in Ethiopia to obtain a unique understanding -based on data- of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ethiopia. 
  4. Expose the instrument to a pipeline of investment opportunities outside of Ethiopia integrated to opportunities within Ethiopia, essentially building a multicounty instrument appealing to global investors
  5. Promote and fundraise for the Fund

Outcome
  1. Garnered strong interest from Development Finance Institutions and private investors. 
  2. Raised awareness with policy makers and more broadly in the ecosystem for the need to attract risk capital 
  3. Enticed more funds (VC, PE, CVC) to set up shop in Ethiopia, raising funds in hard and/or local currency- ensuring sustainability in the flow of capital in the ecosystem while lifting it up, and reducing dependency from grant funding.

  • More insights: click here
  • More details on the journey and objectives of the EF: click here
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Rapidly transforming a Public Institution with innovative management techniques

6/1/2021

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Client
Confidential - A Ministry of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia


Problem
An agency with more than 400 very qualified technical employees was mandated by a proclamation to lead and implement all national technology and innovation strategic initiatives, but didn’t have the tools and management approaches to perform successfully

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Solution
  1. Define a clear time bound vision with S.M.A.R.T goals for the agency to achieve, accompanied by a strategic roadmap
  2. Introduce the ‘Agile Institution Building’ approach defined by L&A, ensuring rapid iterative capacity building of the agency instead of a lengthy sequential institution building approach 
  3. Establish a Transformation Management Office including a Project Management Office and a Organizational Restructuring Office
  4. Set up a Business Analysis Center of Excellence
  5. Develop Procurement and Strategic Sourcing capabilities
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Results
  1. The Leadership team gained capabilities in strategy execution in a short amount of time
  2. The agency’s portfolio of projects became rationalized and mapped directly to the objectives mandated by the proclamation 
  3. An operating model optimized for the agency’s mission enabled swift execution
  4. Partnerships with the private sector increased specifically for large system implementation projects

More Insights: click here
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Branding of a National Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

2/1/2021

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Client
Ministry of Labor and Skills, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia


Problem
Ethiopia is the second largest country in Africa in terms of demography, experiencing one of the highest economic growth rates in the world for a few years, representing a significant market. Like many other African countries, Ethiopia’s economic opportunities and potential are not known to many and stories coming out in the mainstream media seldom provide an accurate picture of the current situation and future prospects. The Ethiopian Entrepreneurship ecosystem also suffers from mis-representation due to a lack of information, or distribution thereof. This information asymmetry leads to difficulties in attracting talent and capital into the ecosystem.

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Solution
  1. Define a brand (‘Enkopa’) for the Entrepreneurship ecosystem
  2. Launch a strategic communications campaign
  3. Establish a national movement to celebrate and promote Ethiopian Entrepreneurship. 
  4. Launch a movement with a pan African ambition, to increase collaboration between African countries and collectively own the narrative on Entrepreneurship.
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Outcome
  1. Encouraged all stakeholders within the ecosystem (engineers, startup-ers, ecosystem builders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, educators, etc.) to build a thriving Entrepreneurship ecosystem
  2. Increased the brand capital of the ecosystem
  3. Corrected the information asymmetry on the ecosystem by explaining and sharing relevant and up-to-date information
  4. Primed investors as part of capital fundraising for the Ethiopian Entrepreneurship Fund
  5. Organized impact-driven activities around the brand (including a Tour, Homecoming and Summit)

Learn more: click here
More details on the Enkopa Tour and Diaspora Tech Homecoming: click here
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Defining the Future of Work for Ethiopia

12/1/2020

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Client
Ministry of Labor and Skills, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia


Problem
​Sustainable job creation and youth employment are critical challenges that Ethiopia is facing today, as the country aims to transition to a middle-income country by 2025. With about 2 million new entrants to the labor market every year, 49% of employed population being in subsistence employment, and ~70% of the population under 29 years old, a concentrated effort to grow current jobs, create new jobs, improve the quality of these jobs and the inclusiveness of the labor market are necessary. 

Solution
  1. Define a strategic approach to define the future of work in Ethiopia taking into account local idiosyncrasies (presence of informal sector and qualified highly trainable talent) by creating synergies between FReelancing, Outsourcing and Gigs, creating essentially a holistic and inclusive FROG economy. 
  2. Introduce the concept and execution approach at several governmental entities (including the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, and the Ministry of Finance at the Federal level as well as agencies at the Regional level) 
  3. Harvest local economic expansion in all sectors to fuel growth of FROG jobs

Outcome
  1. Formed a private sector FROG  taskforce and defined 48 strategic initiatives to be implemented
  2. Grew the taskforce into a cohesive FROG community
  3. Defined a FROG integrated Public Private Partnership Platform(iP4) that includes all the initiatives, following a strategic sequence and roadmap. The platform allows for active, ongoing, and sustainable partner contribution in plug-and-play fashion.
  4. Enabled and strengthened linkages between the Freelance, Outsourcing and Gig (FROG) Economy
  5. Attracted global demand to accelerate FROG job creation and increase maturity of ecosystem
  6. Made FROG a sector recognized by the Ethiopian Government as a strategic pillar of Economic Reform​

More insights: click here ​
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A Strategy for Nation Building Oriented Entrepreneurship

7/1/2020

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Client
Jobs Creation Commission, under the Prime Minister’s Office of Ethiopia


Background
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In 2019, the Jobs Creation Commission (JCC) developed a National Plan of Action for the creation of 14 million jobs in Ethiopia until 2025. The plan identified key interventions for thematic areas namely Active Labor Market Programs and Employability, Skills Development, Employment Services and Labor Market Information. The plan further focused on 11 prioritized sub-sectors, including Construction, Horticulture, Leather, Renewable Energy, Textile and Apparel, Poultry, Mining, Food and Beverage, Tourism and Creative Arts. However, the interventions identified in the Information and Communication Technology subsector were limited and did not uncover untapped opportunities for the creation of millions of jobs.

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Solution
  1. L&A proposed a Digital Entrepreneurship Vision and Strategy to the JCC for Ethiopia to achieve by 2025 (DEV2025) in June 2020
  2. Defined a strategic execution roadmap for DEV2025 
  3. Mobilized partners in partnership with JCC to support the implementation of DEV2025
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Outcome
  1. Launched the Empower, Digitize, and Globalize Entrepreneurs for Ethiopia's Transformation (EDGET) program to implement in August 2020
  2. Established a Digital Entrepreneurship Team composed of blue badge (Internal to JCC) and white badge (consultants external to JCC) members ensuring ongoing capacity building and time-bound knowledge transfer

More Insights: click here
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Organizing and leading a high level delegation to Silicon Valley

12/1/2019

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Client
Jobs Creation Commission, under the Prime Minister’s Office of Ethiopia 

Background
As part of its large national reforms since H.E Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed took power, Ethiopia defined a Homegrown Economic Reform with one of the components being the digital economy but awareness for it was low in the public sector


​Solution

L&A proposed to the JCC Commissioner a trip to Silicon Valley and the Seattle area for a high level delegation composed of public sector ministers/state ministers as well as private sector executives

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Outcome
  1. Re-branded Ethiopia as an Emerging Tech and Outsourcing Hub
  2. Increased awareness of the importance of the digital economy to public sector decision makers
  3. Increased awareness of the local Ethiopian startup Ecosystem for public sector decision makers 
  4. Improved private/public sector dialogue on digital economy and startup ecosystem building topics
  5. Initiated the study and legal text for the Startup and Innovative Businesses Proclamation 
  6. Re-invigorated work for the Personal Data Protection Proclamation
  7. Accelerated the development of the National Digital Transformation Strategy and stressed its importance
  8. Initiated digital upskilling programs with large tech companies (Microsoft, Vmware,Cisco)
​

Learn more: click here
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