Coffee Crisis:Big Business Losses, Street Vendors Gain
Coffee, the mainstay of the Ethiopian economy, is bringing some gloom to the big businesses and some boom to the lowly ones, such as street vendors. Sibhat Hailay, 25, from Hawzien, Tigray, came to Addis Abeba nine months ago, after quitting school in sixth grade. He started selling cheap shoes and clothes for women by the road side around Megenagna. Five months into this business, the profits continued to be so small that he could hardly keep up with his expenses. In around April, he learned than selling coffee would bring him more profits. By way of a trial, he invested 300 Br in five kilos. “It is incomparable,” Sibhat says, when considering the new business against the old one. Several vendors like Sibhat have turned to coffee, over the past months, and are reaping the rewards – selling a kilo for an average of 65 Br. Last Wednesday, Sibhat was left with only 10kgs, having sold 20 of the 30kgs he had bought the day before. For the 57-year-old Molash Maru, a pension