<h1 style="text-align:center;">The Economic Outlook of Ethiopia: An Overview</h1>Working in Ethiopia, we experience firsthand the economic challenges and opportunities faced by the country. Recently, two reports were published which outline the current economic state of Ethiopia and Sub-Saharan Africa. These reports give a great snapshot of the economic stability in Ethiopia, and the current outlook for opportunities and risks going forward in 2017 and beyond.The World Bank Group took a holistic view of Sub-Saharan Africa and found that growth within this region is recovering due to “rising commodity prices, strengthening external demand, and the end of drought in a number of countries” (World Bank, 2017). In the coming year, it is expected that growth within Sub-Saharan Africa will increase to “2.6 percent in 2017 and 3.2 percent in 2018” due to rising commodity prices and improvements to macroeconomic imbalances. Growth on output over the next three years is projected to be at 0.7%, a level where we are not likely to meet the poverty reduction goals within the region.When focusing on Ethiopia specifically, however, the report was more positive. The World Bank Group claims that countries which are non-resource intensive should have positive growth due to support from “infrastructure investment, resilient service sectors, and the recovery of agricultural production” (2017). Ethiopia particularly is slated to expand by 8.3% in 2017, 8.0% in 2018 and 7.9% in 2019, largely due to public investments. The country somehow maintains its position with the fastest and highest growth rate forecasted for any African country, followed by Tanzania and the Ivory Coast.UNDP takes a slightly more negative stance on the economic outlook over the next year, due to continued drought in parts of the country (as a result of the El Niño) and increased fuel prices which put added “pressures on inflation and foreign exchange reserves” (UNDP, 2017). UNDP found that Ethiopia’s economic growth in 2015/16 slowed down to 8%, compared to previous years where growth was around 10%. Currently, the service sectors and government expenditures are the primary reasons for the continued growth for the country.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:99.22%;"><img src="/uploads/screen_shot_2017_06_30_at_6_35_34_pm_0_1987176991.png"></figure>One major growth driver on the demand side was government expenditures. In 2015/16 these expenditures grew to 27.2%, “gross domestic savings grew by 21.4 percent and savings as percent of GDP reached 22.4 percent and gross capital formation was 28.4 percent” (UNDP, 2017). These indicators show an investment and saving gap of 16.1% of GDP. One of the main sectors affecting the country’s export earnings is the agricultural sector. In Ethiopia, this sector accounts for 73% of current workforce and generates 70% of export earnings.During the first quarter of 2016/17, inflation appears to have been contained. There has been general increases to the price of goods at 8.5%, price of food is up 9.8%, and other items by 7.3% (UNDP, 2017). These food increases include Ethiopian staples such as wheat, teff and sorghum. Inflation price of food is usually due to the “seasonality in agricultural production” (UNDP, 2017). Interestingly, inflation usually occurs during May to October and deflates after the main harvest in November.The Ethiopian Birr is still slowly deprecating at a rate of 6.4%. When the UNDP published the report, the Birr was exchanging at 22.81 Birr to 1 USD. The Real Effective Exchange Rate however shows the Birr appreciating in the second quarter 0f 2016/17. Money supply growth was also up during this period by 25.1% on an annual basis, compared to the same time last year, where it was at 21.7%. The main contributor to this increase was the growth in credit over the past year.During the second quarter, exports of merchandise totalled USD 575 million, which is 20.5% lower than the same time as last year. This is due to international prices of goods declining and supply constraints affecting items such as: oilseeds, gold, flower, and leather. Imports into the country also decreased by 6% to USD 3.9 billion. This decrease, alongside rising fuel costs, indicates a lack of available foreign currency.“Export performance remains to be the challenge of the Ethiopian economy” (UNDP, 2017). The diversification is low since agricultural exports account for 70% of items exported, and manufactured products at 4%. In order to increase performance in this area, a heavier emphasis needs to be placed on exporting processed items such as leathers and textiles.These two recent economic reports paint an outlook for Ethiopia that identifies the challenges but is still hopeful. Despite the country’s slowed economic growth, it is still ahead of all other countries in the region. Upcoming challenges, including extended droughts for parts of Ethiopia, will continue to challenge the economic outlook and will add to the pressure “on domestic prices (inflation) and trade balance as import of food will be required” (UNDP, 2017).For more in-depth information on Ethiopia, the two economic briefs can be found here: <a href="http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/710231493655506452/Global-Economic-Prospects-June-2017-Regional-Overview-SSA.pdf">A Fragile Recovery Jun3 2017 World Bank Group</a> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/g15sllurj3hrv27/Quarterly Economic brief 2017-1 (3).pdf?dl=0">United Nations Development Programme Ethiopia Volume 1 2017</a>

A look at the UNDP Quarterly Brief on Ethiopia and WBG’s Global Economic Prospects

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The Economic Outlook of Ethiopia: An Overview

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Resources on Global Markets</h1>In the following post, we bring your attention to some key players in the global markets as well as insightful commentaries that are helpful in learning about global supply chains. Below are four articles that we’ve found helpful to better understand global markets: &nbsp;<ul><li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-blackstone-steve-schwarzman-interview/?utm_source=Daily+AR&amp;utm_campaign=423ccc88a9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c08a59015d-423ccc88a9-140324189">Interview with Steve Schwarzman</a>: Steve Schwarzman is the Blackstone co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. In this interview, he shares his learnings from decades of investing in private equity deals across the global markets. Blackstone has $368 billion assets under management and is a major private equity fund in global markets. &nbsp;</li><li>Daniel Schwartz, a 36-year old who turned around the global fast-foot chain Burger King by understanding&nbsp;the operations of the business from cooking burgers and cleaning toilets at a Burger King restaurant in Miami, Florida and by simply walking around. Learn more about his incredible story in his <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-wall-street-prodigy-daniel-schwartz-saved-burger-king-2017-6">public profile</a>. &nbsp;</li><li>As Ethiopia becomes increasingly integrated into global supply chains, an executive should understand the global economy in an effective way. Avondale&nbsp;Asset Management posts frequent&nbsp;<a href="http://avondaleam.com/company-notes-digest-6-9-2017/">commentaries</a>&nbsp;by global CEOs and CFOs and finds out their views on the global economy. You can subscribe to Avondale's commentaries&nbsp;<a href="https://avondaleam.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=01d425b8d26d70d5169b67771&amp;id=76c97944c3">here</a>. &nbsp;</li><li>The Internet is changing the world and is slowly evolving into a utility like power, water and other services. These changes are shaping economies and businesses across the globe. &nbsp;<a href="https://dq756f9pzlyr3.cloudfront.net/file/Internet+Trends+2017+Report.pdf">Mary Meeker's report on Internet Trends 2017</a> highlights this important resources trend. Mary Meeker is a partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp; Byers.</li></ul><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:98.76%;"><img src="/uploads/world_network_1_1_0_472c15fd82.jpg"><figcaption>Source: <a href="http://www.terem.com.au/blog/should-australian-innovators-be-connecting-to-global-markets-sooner-2/">Terem Technologies</a></figcaption></figure>

Take a few minutes to look at global markets like industry leaders do

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Resources on Global Markets

<h1 style="text-align:center;">The State of Private Equity and Venture Capital Sector in East Africa&nbsp;</h1>The private equity and venture capital sector has been growing sharply in East Africa. The number of firms in this space doubled in 2015 and 2016, as well as funds raised for East Africa investments have also increased. There was an estimated total of USD 1.1billion raised for private equity investment in East Africa for the past two years.The region has seen impressive growth in the number of strong private enterprises with scalable business models and we have seen a growing appreciation on the strategic value of private equity investments. Especially with second generation business leaders who are eager to scale their businesses to the next level of growth, as we can observe in RENEW’s portfolio companies such as Mama Fresh.East Africa has presented positive economic growth over the last years, and Ethiopia is certainly leading this growth trends. According to the most recent African Economic Outlook 2017, published by the African Development Bank Group ADBG “FDI should increase slightly in 2017, but remain volatile due to domestic and global risks FDI flows to Africa are expected to grow by about 2% in 2017, reaching USD 57.5 billion. Ethiopia is expected to be one of the largest (USD 4.4 billion).” KPMG and EAVCA recently surveyed 28 private equity and venture capital funds with activities in East African Countries. Here are some of the highlights from the report published this month:<ul><li>A total of 115 PE backed deals in East Africa have been reported by respondents from 2007 to 2016 (36 were reported from 2015 to 2016), with an estimated value of over USD 1.4 billion (USD 600 million for the 36 deals in 2015 to 2016).&nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Increase in the average investment size grew to USD 17 million in 2015 to 2016 from USD 10 million as per 2014 Survey.&nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>An increased number of exits over the last two years. &nbsp;</li><li>There has also been a shift in exits method - &nbsp;7&nbsp;of the 34 exits have been through secondary exits to financial investors and 13 through sale to strategic investors. There has been a decline in the share buyback method from 11 in 2007 to 2014 to 2 in 2015 and 2016.&nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Of the responses received, the average reported actual IRR has been 19%, 3% lower compared to a target IRR of 22%.</li></ul>As PE activities increase in East Africa, the region still presents many opportunities. The number of PE deals recorded in the region has steadily risen over the years and investors foresee new opportunities in rapidly expanding markets, including Ethiopia and Tanzania, which should replace more traditionally favoured destinations such as Kenya.Please see the link to the full report:&nbsp;<a href="http://eavca.org/2017_KPMG_and_EAVCA_Private_Equity_in_East_Africa_Survey_Final.pdf"> KPMG and EAVCA Private Equity in East Africa Survey Final 2017</a>

Highlights of the recent survey published by KPMG and EAVCA

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The State of Private Equity and Venture Capital Sector in East Africa 

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Practicing Business with Future Legends</h1>“I’ve worked for large international companies and done my MBA, and this is the first time I’ve realized that what’s missing in my business – and it holds me back from growing – are systems.” – Program participant“As a runner, I am disciplined and have a training schedule that I follow rigorously. It just clicked with me. Why haven’t I been applying that same discipline to my business?” – Program participant“No one’s tied it all together before, like RENEW’s Executives’ Program is doing.” – Program participant<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/img_5915_0_483eaff48f.jpg"></figure>In May 2017, RENEW launched<a href="https://www.renewcapital.com/companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> The Executive's Program</a>, a 12-week, mini-MBA to show entrepreneurs in our pipeline and portfolio what good looks like. Over the past month, we’ve heard similar words out of the mouths of many of the 12 entrepreneurs participating in this year’s cohort. The consensus around the room has been that no one has made the “practice” of business as practical as this program is doing.What makes a business successful isn’t rocket science, but the statistics aren’t good: 96% of companies fail within 10 years. Why? All the experts say the same thing: poor management, insufficient capital, lack of planning. In summary, most companies lack disciplined management.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/fullsizerender_3_3e1f005971.jpg"></figure>Our approach is to teach the habits and tools used by top-performing executives. The good news is that performance can be taught! Our program focus is governance, finance, strategy, operations, HR, marketing and sales and corporate stewardship, with strong encouragement to practice and apply, in-between the sessions. Nothing new about those topic areas, but it’s amazing how a program that ties together how strategic plans, annual plans and budgets right down to using your calendar to carve out time to write standard operating procedures and plan meetings can be the kick in the butt entrepreneurs need, myself included.The outcome we are aiming for is to graduate top performing executive with disciplined management teams that become legends of Ethiopia’s economic growth. Will the disciplines we are trying to instill yield the growth we hope for? Time will tell, but as we see sparks of understanding light the eyes of the entrepreneurs that are diligently coming, we are full of hope for our companies and for Ethiopia.

Teaching the habits of top performing executives

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Practicing Business with Future Legends

<h1 style="text-align:center;">My Journey to RENEW Through the Busy Streets of Addis</h1>"Erin.... we are hoping that you are available to come to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from about May 1...."&nbsp; As I read this email early one morning, I knew my work life was about to get flipped completely around. It’s not every day that a new job asks you to take a transatlantic flight to Sub-Saharan Africa on your first day of work…--------Joining the RENEW team was a no-brainer for me. I was on the hunt for a company where my ideals and values would line up. A company that I could get behind and one that I could feel good about contributing to at the end of the day. Coming from a background in the investment field, I had heard of impact investing, and knew that if I was to stay in this industry, that was where I needed to be. Working at a small company taught me how to wear several different hats, but it also taught me where my strengths truly lie and what I value most in this field: using investments for the greater good. Right from the first conversation I had with RENEW, I could see my values and skills lining up with the company and position.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/collage_fotor2_d14841c0ff.jpg"></figure>Which brings me to about four weeks ago, where on day two of work, I landed at Bole International Airport; bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and bag-less. As I drove through the city of Addis Ababa to The Exchange (our office in Addis Ababa), the sites around me were overwhelming. I had never seen so much traffic and so many people all trying to vie for the right of way. Rush hour in the city felt disorganized and hectic. After a good 30-minute drive, I finally made it to The Exchange and was greeted by a friendly team and positive work environment. A small hidden gem tucked inside a coffee warehouse down a dirt road in the heart of the city.Right from day one of work, I could tell&nbsp;this position would be fast-paced and right up my alley.&nbsp;One common theme that kept popping in my head over the two weeks I spent in Ethiopia, was something Matt and Laura told me in my interview. They said they’re a hard-working group, but at the end of the day, their company is like one big family. Over the two weeks in Addis, I saw that adage really come to light, and I saw first-hand that they live and breathe that. I also experienced the passion that was behind RENEW, and saw that the team truly stood behind and embodied the company’s values: "we are loyal and welcome the challenge of being trailblazers".&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/erin_eat_ethiopian_2_e1293f19f1.jpg"></figure>While in Addis, I also had the chance to visit a few of our projects. To hear and see first-hand what impact our investments have, and to meet the people behind the portfolio, was truly eye-opening. Learning about where these companies started, versus where they were today because of the equity investments by the IAN, was a testament to the work being done by RENEW and the impact being created.Over the next two weeks, Addis eventually became less about the busyness and felt more and more like everyday life. The people were friendly and helpful and the city was alive and exciting.&nbsp;I woke up to the sound of morning prayers and church bells every morning; which on day 2, I was convinced my co-worker was blasting music at 5 AM. It made it hard to sleep, but you could feel how alive with energy the city was at the same time.Being able to see our investments, the country, and the circumstances that surround them, gave me such a strong grounding and understanding of what we're offering. Not only are we trying to create huge social impacts, but we're working with the community to move it forward, and ultimately, provide good financial returns to our angel investors.One month in, and I’m still getting my feet wet, but I can already tell this is somewhere I want to make a splash.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/renew_team_9361509dcd.jpg"></figure>

My first impressions of RENEW and Ethiopia.

Perspectives

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My Journey to RENEW Through the Busy Streets of Addis

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Key Resources for Executives</h1>In the following post, we look at key resources to help executives manage and perform better in their roles. Below are 4 articles that will help you achieve this:Does brainwriting or brainstorming work better for generating creative/problem-solving ideas? In the article,<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-creative-class-leigh-thompson-bsi-20170511-story.html"> Who Needs Brainstorming? Brainwriting Gets Way More Ideas, This Prof Says</a>, research shows that Brainwriting is much more effective than brainstorming. If brainstorming involves verbalizing ideas, brainwriting entails writing down ideas individually and then sharing it in a meeting.<a href="https://hbr.org/2017/05/why-do-so-many-managers-avoid-giving-praise">Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise</a> outlines how the most difficult part of a manager’s job is giving feedback. In a survey of 7,631 people, participants were asked whether they believed that giving negative feedback was stressful or difficult, and 44% agreed.&nbsp;Research suggests that if you want to be seen as someone who gives good feedback, you should proactively develop the skill of giving praise as well as criticism.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/abg_training_2_rows_60661967de.jpg"></figure>Many manufacturing firms leave enormous value on the table because of their approach to sales and operations planning. <a href="http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/good-sales-and-operations-planning-is-no-longer-good-enough.aspx">Good Sales and Operations Planning is No Longer Good Enough</a> shows how they tend to use rough rules of thumb rather than rigorous mathematics, and they lack close coordination among different departments. This framework from Bain Consulting will help you plan in a more integrated way.In the modern world when everyone is busy, you need to be specific about how to get to the point in everything you write. Grammarly, the best app for helping people use the right grammar in communications, gives tips about how to write well and get attention in the article <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/specificity-in-writing/?utm_source=grammarly&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=BlogNL&amp;utm_content=NL_052017&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=">Be Specific! How to Get to the Point in Everything You Write.</a>

Key resources to help executives manage and perform better in their roles.

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Key Resources for Executives

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Key Resources for Executives</h1>In the following post, we look at key resources to help executives manage and perform better in their roles. Below are 4 articles that will help you achieve this:Does brainwriting or brainstorming work better for generating creative/problem-solving ideas? In the article,<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-creative-class-leigh-thompson-bsi-20170511-story.html"> Who Needs Brainstorming? Brainwriting Gets Way More Ideas, This Prof Says</a>, research shows that Brainwriting is much more effective than brainstorming. If brainstorming involves verbalizing ideas, brainwriting entails writing down ideas individually and then sharing it in a meeting.<a href="https://hbr.org/2017/05/why-do-so-many-managers-avoid-giving-praise">Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise</a> outlines how the most difficult part of a manager’s job is giving feedback. In a survey of 7,631 people, participants were asked whether they believed that giving negative feedback was stressful or difficult, and 44% agreed.&nbsp;Research suggests that if you want to be seen as someone who gives good feedback, you should proactively develop the skill of giving praise as well as criticism.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/abg_training_2_rows_8000825af1.jpg"></figure>Many manufacturing firms leave enormous value on the table because of their approach to sales and operations planning. <a href="http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/good-sales-and-operations-planning-is-no-longer-good-enough.aspx">Good Sales and Operations Planning is No Longer Good Enough</a> shows how they tend to use rough rules of thumb rather than rigorous mathematics, and they lack close coordination among different departments. This framework from Bain Consulting will help you plan in a more integrated way.In the modern world when everyone is busy, you need to be specific about how to get to the point in everything you write. Grammarly, the best app for helping people use the right grammar in communications, gives tips about how to write well and get attention in the article <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/specificity-in-writing/?utm_source=grammarly&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=BlogNL&amp;utm_content=NL_052017&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=">Be Specific! How to Get to the Point in Everything You Write.</a>

<h1 style="text-align:center;">My First-Hand Experience Participating in the CFO100 Program</h1>It’s been about a month now since the CFO100 Program training launched and already we are in the process of advancing our finance managers into CFOs.Before, during and after the training:As program coordinator of the CFO100 training, I am in charge of communicating with our portfolio companies finance managers and other external applicants. Most of the communication is explaining the program, why it is important, and how both the companies they work with and individuals benefit from it. As a requirement to attend the training we request all applicants take an online examination, and we ensure all applicants know what the program entails. RENEW also gives partial sponsorship to support the participants to sit for the ACCA exams. One of my duties is to coordinate with ACCA's Ethiopia office to get participants registered and to suggest the type of paper to take first.Internally, I am involved in preparing training modules that are mostly delivered to the participants by Matthew Davis, CEO of RENEW Strategies. Every Tuesday&nbsp;at&nbsp;1 PM, Matt will do a dry run of the training with Prasoon Raguwanshi, senior investment manager at RENEW and myself. We start by providing feedback on the content as well as delivery of the training modules.&nbsp;4 PM&nbsp;marks the preparation of refreshments with the scent of special coffee in the training room. The preparation of well-placed&nbsp;refreshments – coffee, tea and cookies, welcomes participants from an exhausting&nbsp;day. After the participants are well refreshed and recovered from the long day of work, we begin the program&nbsp;at 5 PM&nbsp;at the Exchange and setup the A/V to record. Once the training has been conducted, I follow-up with the candidates by sending out the reading materials and assignments and answering any questions they might ask after class.This is my first time doing all this, but I love it!As I am continuously learning and connecting with people in my profession, it is a good networking opportunity. One of the major skills I learned through this&nbsp;is the skill of training and event coordination. I am constantly communicating with trainees to announce launch dates or any amendments, pitching CFO100 and describing how one can benefit from this training. This is separate from all the knowledge I receive from attending the actual training that Matt delivers.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/cfo_100_1_803657f71d.jpg"></figure>What do we hope to accomplish?In simple words, we are trying to train and graduate 100 CFOs over a period of 5 years. The program is aimed at aspiring CFOs (now working as junior/senior accountants, treasury/receivable/payable controllers, budget heads and finance managers) who want to improve their finance knowledge and performance.&nbsp;We cannot find many CFOs in Ethiopia as opposed to finance managers responsible for doing accountant’s tasks. There are finance managers in most accounting departments, which is basically a person who oversees the department and who is responsible for the preparation of financial statements.&nbsp;We are trying to create CFOs; professionals with a holistic view of an organizations performance. This will lead to improved management decision making, since business decisions will not be made in isolation. To achieve this objective, below are some of the important things we discuss in our hands-on training:Accounting system:&nbsp;At RENEW, a company that already invested in seven local businesses, inaccurate financial statements are the major challenge we face while reporting to our remote investors in North America. Through this training, we are teaching our portfolio companies accountant’s and others how to set up an accounting system with competent staff, appropriate accounting procedures and manuals, and strong internal controls.Budgeting and forecasting:&nbsp;We preach that a great CFO is one who works closely with the CEO of the company to advise him/her what the future looks like for any decision-making. CFOs should predict the future by preparing the annual budget with a reasonable accuracy.Financial analysis and risk management: We highly believe a great CFO will critically look at the numbers to prepare key ratios and read the financials to report to the CFO about the profitability, level of gearing, return on investments and figure out risks before they materialize.&nbsp;Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) frequently progress from being a controller and a good accountant or treasurer into a new role where they are expected to participate in developing strategies, manage a group and exercise leadership as well as be on top of the numbers. The CFO100 Program has been designed by RENEW to address those issues that move from technical expertise to the less structured issues of strategic development and working closely with the CEO.By doing this, we firmly believe that we will contribute to the growth of this profession in Ethiopia. Finance is said to be a highly important profession to sustain a country’s economy.We recently collected feedback from the participants, to check if the topics covered were relevant to their work, if the time allocated (2 hours per week apart from self-study) was sufficient, if they believe the trainer knows the subject matter, and we asked to list out the strengths and weaknesses they observed during the training. The responses were mostly positive; some said it was hands on training that focused on real life examples unlike any accounting course they took before. We were delighted to see some areas of improvement for us as well. This is just our first course; we hope the upcoming ones will be even more interesting and more relatable for everyone involved.

An insider's perspective on the CFO 100 Training Program.

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My First-Hand Experience Participating in the CFO100 Program

<h1 style="text-align:center;">Back to The Source: Sesame</h1>Members of RENEW’s Impact Angel Network (IAN) and another U.S. investment group invested in a sesame company based in Ethiopia in September 2015. The investors anticipate that over the next five years, the company will support more than 10,000 small farmers, strengthen the sesame industry in Ethiopia, generate $32 million in export sales and create more than 60 jobs in the manufacturing sector. The investment, like others the IAN has made into small and medium enterprises in East Africa, is anticipated to have a significant impact in the local economy.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/dsc_0049_fb0d896db6.jpg"></figure>Why did we decide to enter the sesame sector? In less than a decade, Ethiopia jumped from being a minor producer of sesame to one of the top five sesame producers in the world. Currently, Ethiopia is the 4th largest exporter of sesame globally, and the 2nd largest exporter in the world markets. This export vies with gold and coffee for the largest revenue producing exports for Ethiopia. The country currently supplies 14% of the global market for raw seeds.In Humera, a small town in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, sesame seeds are the main crop. The Humera Sesame Seeds are one of the most sought after sesame seed in the world due to its white color and favorable aroma. This area of Ethiopia provides the perfect conditions for growing the seed which is high in oil content, and contains an appetizing flavor. The secondary sesame seed produced within the country is known as the Welega Sesame, primarily harvested for its high oil content.<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/humera_0_f19eb55ad6.jpg"></figure>Sesame seeds are a very difficult crop to grow. They’re a tall, lanky plant that can grow between 20 and 60 inches in height. Once ripe, the capsules split open, revealing the seeds. This process coined the phrase “open sesame”. The plant is extremely sensitive due to its weight, and it requires significant manual labor in order to harvest it.Most of the sesame seeds grown in Ethiopia are exported, and processed outside of the country. Because of this, Ethiopia is missing an opportunity to increase sesame revenues. Our new manufacturing plant, Ethiopian Sesame Co. will bring the value and process back into the country. This investment is anticipated to have a significant impact in the local economy.RENEW is proud to be a part of the sesame value chain in Ethiopia(1) <a href="http://ethioagp.org/sesame-2/">Ethiopia Agriculture Growth Program</a> (2) <a href="https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/sesame.html">Sesame: Alternative Field Crops Manual</a> (3) <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/ET/welega-sesame.html">Alibaba.com</a> (4) <a href="http://www.saveur.com/best-sesame-tahini-ethiopia">The World's Best Sesame Seeds Come From Ethiopia</a>