- Title: Food delivery start-up boosts restaurant business in Ethiopia.
- Date: 30th May 2017
- Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) FOOD DELIVERY RIDER ARRIVING AT RESTAURANT VARIOUS OF RIDER IN RESTAURANT COLLECTING FOOD ORDER RIDER LEAVING RESTAURANT WITH ORDER RIDER PUTS DELIVERY IN BAG WITH LABEL READING, "DELIVERY ADDIS" VARIOUS OF RIDER ON THE ROAD FOUNDER CEO OF DELIVERY ADDIS, FELEG TESGAYE SHOWING MAP WHERE RIDERS' MOVEMENTS ARE MONITORED ON A SCREEN VARIOUS OF TESGAYE AT HIS COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER CEO OF DELIVERY ADDIS, FELEG TESGAYE, SAYING: "We started about two years ago and at the time there were no other delivery services available in Ethiopia. So nothing like this existed and I would work fairly late at night on a consulting project that I was part of and I realize you know... I don't want to cook, I don't have the time to cook, why can't I have that food come to me instead? It was the service I used all the time in the States when I was studying, I would always order food and I thought it was time for Addis to have something similar." RIDER WALKS INTO THE BUILDING TO MAKE A DELIVERY RIDER HANDS OVER ORDER TO CLIENT, LULIT NEGASH AN INVESTMENT ADVISOR VARIOUS OF LULIT AND HER COLLEAGUES IN THE OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LULIT NEGASH, INVESTMENT ADVISOR SAYING: "For people who are a bit far from the centre of the city it can get difficult for you to get for you anything they need on time, the traffic will take time and you'll lose your efficiency by just going back and forth. So, this type of services are very important for, especially for businesses who are really focused on making sure time is important and all those. So it has a lot of benefit for us." VARIOUS OF RESTAURANT KITCHEN/CHEF PREPARING A MEAL CHEF PACKS A MEAL FOR DELIVERY (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHEF AND OWNER OF OPIUM RESTAURANT, MEKBIB KASSA, SAYING: "We started out since day one with them. They actually promoted us too. Because you know people by checking out their website, and having customers that order stuff from other restaurants, when opium restaurant was launched there they came to take the picture and put it on their website so people got to know us through them also." VARIOUS OF DELIVERY ADDIS STAFF IN THEIR OFFICE TESGAYE AT HIS COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FELEG TESGAYE, FOUNDER CEO OF DELIVERY ADDIS, SAYING: "One of the most interesting challenges we had is when mobile internet was shut off for two months. At the time I had just landed, I think in the States, and everything was working before I'd left. And I land in the states and come to find out, there's just no connectivity and so it was very difficult to track our drivers, to send orders to them and so on. So there was a period where we had to kind of retool our operations to make use of the new situation. And so we started moving everything to sms and actually during that month we actually had one of our best months ever up to that point. With no internet and as an e-commerce business with no internet, it is generally considered to be a problem. But we managed to come around pretty quick." VARIOUS OF FELEG TESGAYE, FOUNDER CEO OF DELIVERY ADDIS HOLDING A MEETING WITH HIS STAFF
- Embargoed: 13th June 2017 12:12
- Keywords: delivery food internet Feleg Tesgaye delivery addis start-up Business
- Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- City: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J15BVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A rider rushes into the Opium restaurant in Ethiopia's capital to pick up an order for a client. He works for Delivery Addis - Ethiopia's first order-in food service.
Addis Ababa is a teeming city of more than 4 million and has a varied selection of eateries offering local and international cuisine but traffic congestion can keep commuters on the road for hours and dashing out to get something to eat is not always a quick option.
Delivery Addis CEO, Feleg Tesgaye says the idea came to him when he was working late one night and couldn't get out for a meal.
The trained IT expert was born and raised in the U.S. and came back to his parents' homeland to take part in what he thought was a growing tech industry in the country.
"We started about two years ago and at the time there were no other delivery services available in Ethiopia. So nothing like this existed and I would work fairly late at night on a consulting project that I was part of and I realize you know... I don't want to cook, I don't have the time to cook, why can't I have that food come to me instead? It was the service I used all the time in the States when I was studying, I would always order food and I thought it was time for Addis to have something similar," he said.
The typical delivery time for meals is under one hour at a minimum cost of about 3 US dollars depending on the distance.
This year, over 7,000 deliveries have been made through the platform and there have been about 100 new sign ups every month.
Lulit Negash is an investment advisor who works long hours some distance from the city center and uses Delivery Addis often.
"For people who are a bit far from the centre of the city it can get difficult for you to get for you anything they need on time, the traffic will take time and you'll lose your efficiency by just going back and forth. So, this type of services are very important for, especially for businesses who are really focused on making sure time is important and all those. So it has a lot of benefit for us," said Lulit.
Delivery Addis works with 20 restaurants in the city. One of them is Opium, a fairly new restaurant popular for its mix of American and Mexican style dishes.
"We started out since day one with them. They actually promoted us too. Because you know people by checking out their website, and having customers that order stuff from other restaurants, when opium restaurant was launched there they came to take the picture and put it on their website so people got to know us through them also," said chef and owner, Mekbib Kassa.
Delivery Addis has a small team of IT, logistics professionals and riders and Tesgaye says he plans to expand into other types of deliveries and grow his workforce.
Investment in e-commerce has been growing in countries like Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Analysts say the sector is vital in creating jobs and driving innovation.
But economists warn the state's tight grip and a list of restrictions on where private business and foreigners can invest in Ethiopia risks stifling tech and other start-ups.
Tesgaye says his biggest challenge so far has been the internet shutdown last year during the ongoing state of emergency declared to curb anti-government protests.
"One of the most interesting challenges we had is when mobile internet was shut off for two months. At the time I had just landed, I think in the States, and everything was working before I'd left. And I land in the states and come to find out, there's just no connectivity and so it was very difficult to track our drivers, to send orders to them and so on. So there was a period where we had to a kind of retool our operations to make use of the new situation. And so we started moving everything to sms and actually during that month we actually had one of our best months ever up to that point. With no internet and as an e-commerce business with no internet, it is generally considered to be a problem. But we managed to come around pretty quick," he said.
Ethiopia's double-digit economic growth has been driven more by state spending rather than private enterprise.
While economists acknowledge the country has done more than most in ensuring remote areas benefit from growth they say greater openness to private business could offer more opportunities to generate revenues in taxes and stimulate innovation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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