EDI Story Night Highlights Resilience, Innovation and the Journey to Industrial Success

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) hosted an inspiring Story Night as part of the celebration of the Ministry of Labor and Skills’ five-year journey, bringing together successful industrialists, entrepreneurs, and aspiring young business leaders for an evening of experience-sharing, reflection, and inspiration.

The program provided a platform for accomplished entrepreneurs to openly share the challenges, failures, setbacks, and breakthroughs that shaped their journeys.

Through their personal stories, the speakers demonstrated that entrepreneurial success is rarely achieved through a straight path, but rather through resilience, persistence, innovation, and the courage to pursue opportunities despite adversity.

Three distinguished entrepreneurs took the stage: Engineer Bejai Naiker, Kalekidan Seleshi, and Solomon Ayenew.

Their stories offered the audience practical lessons on manufacturing, job creation, innovation, access to finance, and the importance of perseverance in building sustainable enterprises.

Engineer Bejai Naiker: Turning Local Manufacturing into Global Opportunity

Engineer Bejai Naiker, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Bejai Industrial & Engineering Solutions PLC, shared his experience of building a diversified industrial enterprise driven by engineering, innovation, and local manufacturing.

With an engineering degree and an MBA from Jimma University, Engineer Bejai has developed businesses operating across areas including agriculture, renewable energy, and AI-driven automation.

His work demonstrates the potential of Ethiopian enterprises to develop locally manufactured solutions for industries traditionally dependent on imported equipment.

His local fabrication initiatives have supplied equipment and solutions to more than 140 animal feed factories, more than 30 seed processing factory and numerous processing facilities across Ethiopia, contributing to import substitution and the development of domestic manufacturing capacity.

His enterprises providing technical exposure and training opportunities for young professionals.

Engineer Bejai also highlighted his broader commitment to entrepreneurship development and social impact.

Through initiatives including “Unlocking Inner Locked Capacity” and the “Mission 1000” free fund competition, he has supported emerging entrepreneurs with mentorship and seed funding.

His expanding international ambitions further demonstrate his vision for African industrial development.

In February 2026, he announced a formal agreement related to the establishment of a satellite manufacturing facility in Burkina Faso, reflecting his aspiration to take Ethiopian engineering and industrial expertise beyond national borders.

Kalekidan Seleshi: From Adversity to Industrial Entrepreneurship

The Story Night also featured Kalekidan Seleshi, Founder and Owner of a modern textile and sock manufacturing factory, whose journey demonstrated the power of determination in overcoming personal and financial challenges.

A graduate of Textile Engineering from Bahir Dar University, Kalekidan further strengthened her technical capacity through a year-long specialized training program in China.

Despite her professional preparation, however, severe family challenges and a dangerous encounter involving a human trafficking scam threatened to derail her aspirations.

With virtually no business capital, she eventually identified an opportunity through the Development Bank of Ethiopia’s lease financing program, enabling her to acquire machinery valued at approximately 10 million Birr and establish her manufacturing operation.

Her determination has since produced significant results.

Within two years, she grew the business from an initial value of just one Birr to an estimated capital value of 15 million Birr.

Today, her factory provides employment to approximately 30 permanent workers and 20 contract employees, demonstrating how individual entrepreneurial ambition can translate into tangible employment opportunities.

Addressing young people during the Story Night, Kalekidan emphasized the importance of understanding the realities of entrepreneurship.

“The road is not clean and straight. You will face heavy ups and downs, and the young generation must understand this and push through anyway.”

Her message resonated strongly with the audience, particularly young entrepreneurs facing uncertainty as they establish and grow their businesses.

Solomon Ayenew: From Day Laborer to Industrial and Retail Entrepreneur

The other speaker, Solomon Ayenew, Founder of Dir Addis Engineering PLC and Emawa Hypermarket, shared one of the evening’s most compelling stories of perseverance and transformation.

Solomon described growing up doing countryside farm work before moving to Addis Ababa in search of better opportunities.

His early years in the capital were marked by hardship.

He worked as a day laborer and shoeshine boy, spent periods working in restaurants without pay, and delivered bread simply to earn a living.

His entrepreneurial journey began to change when one of his former shoeshine clients introduced him to aluminum fabrication.

Determined to learn a new skill, Solomon approached a workshop and offered to work without payment in exchange for the opportunity to learn.

The experience became a turning point.

After gaining the necessary skills, he secured his first independent contract, earning 120,000 Birr a breakthrough that laid the foundation for his future business career.

He subsequently established Dir Addis Engineering PLC, which has grown into a major engineering and fabrication enterprise operating workshop in Piazza.

Solomon later expanded his business interests into the retail sector through Emawa Hypermarket, a multi-floor retail establishment named in honor of his mother.

His entrepreneurial journey illustrates how skills development, persistence, and the willingness to start from the bottom can create pathways to substantial enterprise growth.

Stories That Inspire a New Generation

The three entrepreneurs presented different paths to success, but their experiences shared a common message: entrepreneurship requires resilience, continuous learning, calculated risk-taking, and the determination to keep moving forward despite setbacks.

For EDI, the Story Night provided more than an opportunity to celebrate individual success.

It created a space where experienced entrepreneurs could transfer knowledge and practical lessons to the next generation, helping young Ethiopians understand both the opportunities and realities of entrepreneurship.

The event further demonstrated the importance of creating platforms where entrepreneurs can share authentic experiences, including not only their achievements but also the difficulties and failures behind them.

As Ethiopia continues to strengthen its entrepreneurship and private-sector ecosystem, stories such as those shared during the EDI Story Night serve as powerful reminders that successful enterprises are built over time and that resilience, innovation, and determination can transform even the most challenging beginnings into opportunities for growth and impact.