THE MOST EFFICIENT BUSINESS IN ETHIOPIA
Many might think of Ethiopian airlines or The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia or some other branded business or sector of the Ethiopian economy. But in my opinion the chat or khat business is the most smashing success story in Ethiopia.
In the past chat chewers were a minority confined to a few who chewed chat ritualistically as part of their faith moderately or students as a study aid. But this plant the Somalis call “the flower of heaven” has entered the cheeks of millions of Ethiopians and has penetrated all parts of the country. From its ancient homeland in the eastern highlands this cash crop has migrated all the way to northern Ethiopia to the Eritrean border. Even monasteries and the hills of Gonder, Gojjam, and Tigray are now bluish green with this flower of heaven. Schools and offices are surrounded by chat vendors and it is no more considered a taboo for women and underage children to be seen with cheeks distended and green stuff dribbling from the corners of their lips. Without using any media and by word of mouth chat has invaded Ethiopia completely and has become a business that has created billionaires.
Chat is also an international business that crosses boundaries as it is a necessary herb in parts of the Arabian peninsula and neighboring Somalia. Without chat, Al Shaba and the Somali pirate business will die as these fighters have to chew this “flower of heaven” in their maniacal killing sprees. Thus chat being a time sensitive commodity that can not be frozen has to be delivered from 36-48 hours from the time of harvest. In an efficiency that can beat Fedex and UPS, thousands of trucks, minibuses, motorcycles, camels, donkeys, mules, horses, men, women, children, bicycles and almost anything that can move are engaged in this staggering efficiency of delivering the green stuff to all addicts in all corners of the country. As a matter of fact the movement of chat is much more efficient than electricity, water supply, telephone service and the Internet. It should be the template which the government should study and emulate for some of this deplorable services.