- Title: Ethiopian food delivery startup rides to restaurants' rescue
- Date: 3rd June 2020
- Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (MAY 26, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DELIVER ADDIS CUSTOMER, HENOK GIRMA, WORKING FROM HOME
- Embargoed: 17th June 2020 11:17
- Keywords: COVID-19 Deliver Addis delivery business lockdown ordering food online start-up
- Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- City: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001CGTFCYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:In a leafy Addis Ababa suburb, Henok Girma, runs a communications company from the verandah of his home. Eating out isn't an option these days, so takeout has become the norm. Today, Henok wants to try some Mexican food, which he orders via a Deliver Addis app.
One of Deliver Addis's 30 motorbike riders pick up Henok's order. The rider expertly weaves his way through the city traffic to get to a hungry Henok, quickly.
"A lot of things have changed since the global pandemic coronavirus started. But when it comes to working from home in a safe environment and being able to order whatever I want, it has really made that aspect of this whole situation a bit easier to deal with," said Henok.
Many businesses in Ethiopia have struggled to stay open. But Deliver Addis, Ethiopia's first-ever food delivery startup, has benefited from the lockdown. It was founded by US-raised Feleg Tsegaye in 2015. Feleg has employed more staff and drivers to keep up with a spike in demand.
"Previously we measured based on efficiency right, like on how many orders the driver is doing…etc and we've maintained that even while growing the number of drivers significantly. So, as soon as we expand, we realize that's where the market is. And the next benchmark is to build more, to build more, add more people. And we don't see that subsiding any time soon," he explained.
Ethiopia has confirmed nearly 1,300 cases of COVID-19, with 12 deaths as of June 2.
Ethiopia declared a state of emergency to curb the pandemic on April 8.
The lockdown left Selamawit Paulos, a mother of three and a former human rights lawyer, with an empty restaurant and bills to pay.
"Our business almost overnight slowed down to almost 10 per cent of what we used to be working at before. Soon after we joined Deliver Addis, we were always in the process of joining, but we sped that process up and joined Deliver Addis and that really kept our business alive," she said.
The employees at Deliver Addis understand how lucky they are. They feel a sense of responsibility to the struggling restaurants and their customers.
"We've decreased delivery prices, we've added restaurants, and we were looking to find ways to help bring business to this restaurants to keep them open and also reduce the financial burden on the end users. Our hope is that we're providing more of a utility in some ways than just simply a luxury service," said Tsegaye added.
Deliver Addis spotted an opportunity to keep its business alive during the pandemic, giving hope to its young employees, and keeping restaurants open during this crisis.
(Production: Kumerra Gimechu, Nazanine Moshiri) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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