British Ambassador to Ethiopia Susanna Moorehead visited Arakele Design College on 15 March to see how one innovative British-Ethiopian partnership is helping create both stunning new fashion and new opportunities for underprivileged women and refugees in Ethiopia.
Arakele is the brainchild of Briton Arabella Stewart and Ethiopian Mikele Goitom. Since 2014, 400 students have graduated from Arakele programmes, which range from short term courses to longer term diplomas. Students and workers come from a variety of backgrounds including women who have returned from domestic work in the Middle East, refugees from neighboring countries and women rescued from abuse and living in safe havens.
This year Arakele is taking its social impact further by providing school uniforms produced by its students, supporting primary school children in need through feeding programs and donating pencil cases, made by a local group of deaf women.
To support this work, Ambassador Moorehead handed over funds raised during a High Fashion and High Tea and networking event at the British Ambassador’s residence last week to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event brought together stylish Ethiopian and British brands, including Zaaf, Sabahar and Pittards, alongside artists and fashion designers.

“Aside from the 2017 Winter Olympics, the annual meeting of the African Development Bank this May in Korea, is the most important event on our calendar,” says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, Kim Dong Yen.
He made the remarks in Seoul, while hosting a delegation led by Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina. According to Yeon, the meetings provide Korea with an opportunity to deepen relationships with the African Development Bank, African governments, and the private sector.
Yeon mentioned that as part of a larger strategic engagement with Africa, Korea is interested in developing a Tech Corp human exchange and learning platform that would provide talented young Korean professionals with opportunities to serve in the public and private sector of the bank’s member nations.
Adesina, noted that asymmetrical or insufficient information and communication about African investment opportunities was a problem that needed to be fixed. He said a bilateral Tech Corp exchange would provide talented young Africans with much needed exposure and experiential learning in Korea.
During meetings with Mayor Suh Byung-Soo of Busan, Korea’s technologically innovative ‘smart city,’ Adesina promoted the Bank’s African Investment Forum in November 2018, stating that Africa was open for business, and that the forum would be ‘short on talk’ and ‘high on transactions and project pipelines.’
While noting that only 15 percent of Africa’s trade was internal, Adesina said one of the Bank’s key agendas, Integrating Africa, was essential for the rapid movement of people, goods, and services, as well as Africa’s economic and social transformation.
Noting that Africa will be home to 500 million people by 2050, Ambassador Albino Malungo of Angola said, “while the continent is urgently diversifying its economies, it is now time to dream of and create a new Africa.”