Back in February 2020, when Covid-19 was not yet obstructing our educational activities, EMBA students conducted a field visit to Ethiopia to verify business models the students built up during their preliminary preparation sessions.

Prior to the field trip, we also paid a visit to the Ethiopian Embassy in Japan and met Ambassador Kassa T. Gebrehiwet, the former Ambassador to the U.S. With a kind support from the Ambassador Gebrehiwet and Ms. Woderyelesh Abebe, an Embassy officer, we successfully visited several important and leading-edge companies - Nib International Bank, Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, Ethiopian Investment Commission, ET Holidays and Elelan Leather. All of them were essential to verify students' business ideas, and we learned a lot through the visit. Along with these visits, we cannot forget the very warm welcome by the Ambassador Matsunaga of the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia.

Among the many learnings we earned throughout the visit, the most important learning is a great economic potential of Ethiopia. The country has a large population, robust agricultural basis, and more than everything, Ethiopian people's diligence, and positive mindsets. We met several businesspersons who came back to Ethiopia after their long stay abroad, and they repeatedly said that they wish to contribute to the growth of their home country. We were greatly impressed by their sincere love for the country and ambition.

Most importantly, based on their experience during the visit, our EMBA students brushed up and reached the following business plans: 1) New resort tourism concept by taking advantage of Ethiopian coffee farms, 2) Tech hub concept to incubate IT-based startups and grow entrepreneurs, 3) High-value-added Ethiopian rose oil production business to solve the income gap, 4) National branding strategy by making use of high altitude marathon training center/resort concept, and 5) The export of teff as a super food to Japan.

Overall, we found Ethiopia not only as a great source of economic opportunities, but also the source of cultural learning.