From Addis Ababa: A Power[ful] Africa Message
On the outskirts of Addis Ababa sits the engineering and production facility of one of the world’s most cutting edge high technology firms, the Ethiopian-American firm dVentus Technologies. This firm and its success could be a harbinger of change across the entire African continent.
It was here, one early morning this month, that America’s top foreign trade envoy, Michael Froman, huddled with two officials of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Assistant Administrator (Africa) Earl Gast, and Power Africa Coordinator Andrew Herscowitz, to hear a briefing by dVentus CEO Daniel Gizaw.
Gizaw, an Ethiopian-American, is fascinating realization of the American Dream. A graduate of the University of Gdansk in Poland, Daniel was able to transfer to the University of Wisconsin and work on his PhD there. With more than 20 years’ experience in the USA designing state-of-the art electric motors, generators and electronics drives and extensive expertise in management of technology, Daniel founded Danotek Motion Technologies in Ann Arbor, Michigan, about ten years ago to serve the specialized needs of the advanced transportation and renewable energy industries; by 2005, he formed an engineering team in Ethiopia to support the U.S. operation. Read more
