Dawit Birhanu is the chief executive officer of Websprix, an IT solutions and services provider. The company is the first licensed private internet service provider in the country.

Sergey Lavrov is the Foreign Minister of Russia, taking office since 2004. Previously, he was the Russian Representative to the UN, serving from 1994 to 2004.

Víctor M. Treviño has been Ambassador of Mexico to Ethiopia and Permanent Observer to the African Union since August 2016. He joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1982 and has previously served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Mexico in Australia; Consul General in Phoenix, Arizona; Head of the Consulate in Brownsville, Texas; and Deputy Consul General in Los Angeles, California, among others.

Haddis Desta Tadesse is the director for Ethiopia and representative to the African Union (AU) at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ian Chesterman is the Chief of Party for the Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity, a program funded by USAID.

On the heels of a number of high-profile, historic visits by the members of the Norwegian government and monarchy, Norway’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Andreas Gaarder, reflects with The Reporter’s Samuel Getachew on the long bond between Ethiopia and Norway, on the ideals of the Scandinavian nation in helping change the narrative of Ethiopia, on migration, trade and the “middle power” role his nation is playing in the world. Excerpts:

Bezabih Demessie (PhD) is the president of the All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP), one of the major opposition political parties in Ethiopia. He earned his masters and PhD degrees from Russia, in History and Economics.

Christophe Litt is the head of the European Investment Bank representative office to Ethiopia and the African Union. On the heels of announcing loans worth millions of euros in Ethiopia, Litt talked to The Reporter’s Samuel Getachew on the mission of the bank, its many activities in the nation, on its recent investment on M-Birr and why it decided to venture into private investment rather than the public investment it have focused on for the last two decades. Excerpt:

Described by BBC as one of the people who “represent the part of Ethiopian life where dynamism, creativity and an adventurous spirit are allowed to thrive,” Harsh Kothari of Mohan Group of companies is a passionate entrepreneur and charity advocate.

Inge Baumgarten (PhD) is the director of GIZ at the African Union office in the capital. Having arrived to the country late last year, the passionate advocate of education and health reflects with Samuel Getachew of The Reporter on her own career, on the many activities of GIZ in Ethiopia and across the continent and on the reasons why the new Pan African University and on areas of peace and security are worthy investment to make from the perspective of the Government of Germany. Exceprts: