Yohannes Tilahun: the new CEO of Ethiopian Tourism Organization

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn recently appointed Yohannes Tilahun to head the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO) replacing Solomon Tadesse who was relieved of his duties a few weeks ago after serving as CEO since ETO was formed in 2014.

So, who is Yohannes Tilahun?

Yohannes Tilahun was the Senior Director for Strategy & Chief Technology Officer at the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), where his primary responsibility was to promote and facilitate investments in Ethiopia.

He also served as CEO at General Electric-Ethiopia, where he represented GE in the country and collaborates with the local GE businesses to drive incremental growth, and to develop key relationships with customers, business partners, as well as the governments and local authorities.

Yohannes returned home to Ethiopia after more than 15 years of experience on Wall Street in the United States, with expertise in business management, corporate strategy, finance, and data analytics. During his career he has worked for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Wells Fargo and the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency.

Yohannes has been featured in publications such as Diversity Inc. Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newspaper, and Addis Life Magazine. In addition, he was featured in a four part TV series on Leadership and Success broadcast worldwide and was voted as one of the top 100 diverse executives under age 50 in the United States by Diversity MBA Magazine.

Yohannes is very active in his community and is passionate about giving back. He is currently the Board Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia. He is also Board Member of Alsam(Largest FMCG company in Ethiopia) and Techno style(Largest furniture Manufacturing Company in Ethiopia). He formerly served on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters in St. Louis and currently serves on the board of directors for the School of Business at the University of District Columbia in Washington, DC.

Yohannes holds a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree, both in Finance, from the University of the District of Columbia as well as additional certifications from Securities Industry Institute (SII), Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University.