Fitsum Hailu Zeleke is now the CEO of Addis Path Trading PLC and its subsidiary addisber.com, which is the largest online shopping portal in Ethiopia. He is a well-experienced leader who demonstrated his management capacity in merchandising, Agro-industry, and production operations for the last 20 years. Before assuming his current position, he was the General Manager of ELFORA Agro-Industries PLC, which is the largest Agro-industry & agribusiness investment in Ethiopia that incorporates poultry operations, large-scale irrigated farms, Dairy and Abattoir facilities. Furthermore, he has served as the General Manager of Addis Home Depot PLC (merchandise company) and as a Deputy General Manager, Business Development Executive, and Materials Management Director in other different high-profile business organizations. Academically, he’s from MBA (3.70 CGPA & Very Good on his Thesis), Marketing, Management, and procurement background with short-term and on-job training in Ethiopia and Europe. He is also a certified professional in “Entrepreneurship” and “Strategic Leadership” from the Austria Chamber of Commerce/Innocert and National Management Association of America/Jethro respectively. He has represented different international brands in Ethiopia that include but not limited to Kraiberg (Germany) and Vitafor (Belgium). Fitsum is also recognized for his extracurricular activities and was named an “Ambassador for Peace” by the Universal Peace Federation/UPF (S. Korea, 2011) and serves as the Executive Leadership Board of the same Federation in its Ethiopian Chapter. Fitsum is now available for any of the following tasks:- Provide Market Due Diligence Provide Brand Consultancy Provide Service as an Auxiliary Agent Provide Promotion Consultancy Organize Retail Shops/Outlets Organize Product Stores Prepare Market Procedure Manuals Prepare Procurement Procedure Manuals Prepare Store Procedure Manuals Prepare Human Resource Manuals Give Training on Customer Service Give Training on Branding Give Training on Sales Personalities Give Training on Market Strategy Give Training on Stores Management Give Training on Materials Management Give Training on Leadership Give Training on Management Give Training on Procurement Give Training on Logistics Give Training on Entrepreneurship and more on demand He can be reached at fitsumhailu27@gmail.com or fitsumhailu80@gmail.com or by his cell phone through +251911636065

1. Different beat is expected
on
Ethiopian marketplaces
Fitsum Hailu Zeleke

2. Different beat is expected on Ethiopian
marketplaces
Fitsum Hailu
In terms of the market situation and marketplace in Ethiopia, there are many
issues that need to be modernized and improved. Of these, the marketing
process and implementation, which has not redeemed the time, takes the
biggest place. Paying attention to this issue will greatly help the challenging
journey of the Ethiopian economy to maintain its health and move on the path
of modernization.
It is very difficult to communicate & to move along with the global marketing
system while running a marketing application that lacks modernity.
Transforming the process of how the trading practice is done is becoming
inevitable in all our marketplaces. It makes the issue serious when we think of
the famous foreign companies that have entered the country, and are preparing
to enter, following the economic reform that Ethiopia is carrying out.
Eliminating these challenges in time and changing it to a modern marketing
process should be one of the main issues.
Although marketing has been updating its approach and changing its focus at
different times, it has not changed its basic purpose and fundamentals. Before
embarking on a full-scale modern marketing transformation, there are basic
mindset shifts that are necessary to enable change. In the current modern view,
there are two basic processes involved in all transactions that take place in
different marketplaces. The first process is ‘the way we process the transaction’
and the second process is ‘the way of paying for the transaction we have
completed’. By focusing on these two processes, many countries have been
able to stable the flow of their economy beyond speeding up their trading

3. system procedures. We cannot say that the marketing process in a country is
"modern and efficient" if these two basic processes are not radically changed
and modernized.
As indicated by Tim Bosch on his article about the Marketplace, the first
marketplaces have been recorded around 3000 BC, though it is believed that
the existence of marketplaces goes back in time even further. Marketplaces
develop and grew exponentially once trade routes were established between
cities, civilisations and later on even continents.
There are different traditional markets in different countries. These markets are
commonly known as 'open markets'. These places are known for carrying
goods for tourists. In addition, there are also open markets known as 'farmers'
markets' in developed, developing and under-developed countries, which are
known for selling agricultural products that are used for food by local residents.
In developed countries, transactions in these markets are less influential and
have very little coverage as compared to the overall trading system.
In Ethiopia, most of the traditional marketplaces are used for shopping on a
weekly basis. Looking at their names, they mostly depend on the days of the
week. The days of the markets are designated by one or two of the days of the
week. It is named by the consensus of the local community or by a custom that
gradually develops. Trading on these days is limited to certain hours only.
During these limited days and time, the local community attends the
marketplace and performs the transaction process. At the time and place of the
market, the party involved in selling is presented with "products, goods and/or
Services" and in parallel, the party who comes to buy enters the market with
money interms of “cash”.
Most markets rely on sellers; offering their goods or services to buyers in
exchange for money. It need the physical presence and contact of the two

4. parties- seller and buyer. It is difficult to obtain confirmation or guarantee or
other evidence for the transaction as the transaction process is based on the
verbal communication between the seller and the buyer. In the traditional
transaction process, having a contract or sales invoice is a luxury.
Sérgio Dominique-Ferreira & two others explained on their work: “Role and
effect of traditional markets”, published on the Journal of Global Scholars of
Marketing Science (Vol 32, Issue 3, 2022), that traditional markets play a
critical role in local as well as regional development and sustainability, along
with their respective effects. This means that their social importance is great.
Especially in African countries, in addition to the marketing process, their
contribution to social relations is very high. As many of the participants who
come to the marketplaces for shopping come from far away areas, they use the
marketplaces as a gathering place for social and other purposes in addition to
shopping. "Equb" can be mentioned in our country. In addition, the market
participants gather at the traditional bars located in the marketplaces and use
them for information exchange by raising the issues of their respective areas. It
means that traditional markets are not only marketplaces. This also shows us
that it is impossible to destroy their existence by the name of modernization.
However, if their potential contribution to the economy is not measured, their
harms outweigh their benefits. Transactions in this marketplace should be
identified and should not cover huge share of the total transaction held in a
sub-region, region, or a country.
During the Renaissance period and the industrial revolution that occurred then
after, the growth of production was greatly increased, and it helped the market
and marketing system to continue to take shape. Between the 1860s and 1920s,
mass production became the focus in the production era. In this era, simply
mass producing goods was a primary driver of sales. As the production era gave
way to the sales era (1920s to the 1940s), modern marketing began to take

5. shape. Then marketing and its system improved over time and became
modern.
This phenomenon has left the marketplaces that we call "open-markets" and
created other marketplaces that are not limited by specific location. This new
marketplace has modernized the transaction process and taken it to the next
level.
It has created an environment where Business-to-Business (B2B) or
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) meet to discuss, negotiate and develop their
bilateral relationship together.
It helps the trading parties to communicate clearly regarding the way of
production, place of delivery, time, price, payment etc. in the agreements they
make during the transaction process. It also help create binding contracts,
warranties and similar business terms and conditions. It not only paved the way
for the stakeholders in the market to have a bilateral relationship with each
other, but also contributed to a new meaning of the market, marketplace and
marketing system. This modernity has significantly contributed to 'open
markets' and their marketing processes being called 'traditional'.
Transaction efficiency in a marketplace refers to the transaction process
– minimizing the waste of time, effort and money in the interactions between
the parties - seller and buyer. This means the way we process the transaction in
any marketplace should be improved. Modernization of this process is needed
to help market participants make the transaction process more convenient, less
wasteful, and more time-efficient.
In the modern world, with the emergence of digitalization, it has been observed
that the shopping crowd in the marketplaces gradually decreased, and now it is
seen that more and more people shop online for themselves and their families.
However, this modern marketing process has not been widely accepted and

6. trusted by Ethiopian consumers, so it is still lagging behind and moving at a
very slow pace.
Nowadays, traditional marketplaces or what we call ‘modern’ marketplaces are
turning into eMarketspaces. Ignoring the changing process of this growing
market system at the global level will drag back the positive impact that
marketing should bring in a country's economy. In order to increase the speed
of this process in Ethiopia and to go along with the world market system, fast
and quality infrastructures should be developed. The main infrastructure of
eMarketspace is the existence of internet with sufficient speed and quality. The
effort shown by the government on digital policies and strategic plans is
expected to be more than what has been done on the development of internet
infrastructure.
Ethiopia's determination to implement e-commerce or etransaction through a
decree is a good start and paves the way for other processes. It enable Ethiopia
to be part of the digital era. As per the Data Reportal “Digital 2022” report on
Ethiopia, there were 29.83 million internet users in Ethiopia in January 2022.
This means as per the report, Ethiopia’s internet penetration rate stood
at 25.0% of the total population at the start of 2022. If we took this data, the
maximum population that may use eMarketspaces are not much one quarter of
the population.This needs imporvement and the inclusion rate is expected to
rise above this number in the coming years. If we look neighbouring countries
with common borders with the same report, Kenya’s, Djibouti’s and Sudan’s
internet penetration rate stood at 42.0%, 59.0% and 30.9% of the total
population respectively, at the start of 2022. These three countries look higher
than Ethiopia. Whereas Eritrea’s, South Sudan’s and Somalia’s internet
penetration rate stood at 8.0%, 10.9% and 13.7% of the total population
respectively, at the start of 2022, which are lower than Ethiopia.

7. I expect Ethiopia’s rate to show a lot of improvement in the near future. Ethio
Telecom's progress in introducing new technologies in a short period of time is
promising. Much is also expected from Safaricom, which is launching a new
venture. In the competition between them and partnering with stakeholders,
there is hope that they can contribute significantly to the improvement of the
marketimg processes, eMarketspaces and the development of electronic
trading as well.
In order to improve the way of paying for the transaction we have completed,
digital payment should get due attention. They are easy and convenient for
shoppers instead of holding cash. The ‘Digital Ethiopia 2025’ strategy document
clearly indicates why the digital payment process is lagging behind. It puts as
‘Lack of fundamental enablers for E-Commerce such as legal recognition of
E-Receipts and digital payments has resulted in lack of a conducive
environment for E-Commerce development. Comprehensive policy and
regulatory changes, which can create a strong framework for governance and
reduce uncertainty, can help catalyse the market’. In addition to solving this
systemic problem, it is important to introduce the payment methods that are
being implemented in the world. For instance, Credit cards are very important
in the modern marketing system but are not issued in Ethiopia. As per the
strategy document, ‘they are used only by foreigners and diaspora (0.3% of
population). However, while peer countries such as Kenya and Rwanda
evidenced an increasing usage of mobile money as a solution for financial
inclusion (73% and 31% of population), in Ethiopia it is less than 1% due to
regulation restrictions’.
Therefore,in general, as we all can agree and the strategic document puts it,
the combination of: (i) lack of interoperability among and within banks and (ii)
the public’s lack of awareness and access to digital banking services has led to a
very low adoption of digital payments. The few E-Commerce solutions in

8. Ethiopia depend on ‘cash on delivery’ transactions. Thus, this needs much work
and working on both merchant’s and shopper’s sides is very important to bring
them both on equal page with regard to way of transaction and way of payment
for the transaction.
==================//////==========================
Fitsum Hailu Z.
is CEO of Addis Path Trading PLC and its subsidiary addisber.com and former General
Manager of ELFORA and addis Home Depot. Serving as market representative of
different international brands in Ethiopia. He can be reached at
fitsumhailu27@gmail.com