and executive Vice President of Afri-
can Affairs at the Tagos Group from
2010 - 2012, President of the Inter-
national Trade Center since 2008,
Founder and President of the Texas
Africa Business Summit since 2010
and Founder and President of the
Ethio-American Trade and Invest-
ment Council (EATIC) since 1993.
Heidi: So, your interests were always in
Trade, Investment and Economic devel-
opment.
Hon. Kebede: Yes indeed. Ethiopia is
a country of unlimited possibilities
in regards to investment and trade. I
am a tireless advocate of US-Ethiopia
trade and investment aiming to build
capacity and forge partnerships in
the public and private sector. I also
strongly believe that trade and invest-
ment is the solution to the nation’s
economic challenges rather than Aid.
Hon. Kebede is an expert in global
and corporate strategy, transactions
covering principal investing, mergers
and acquisitions, divestitures, priva-
tizations, joint ventures, structured
finance, corporate restructuring, and
debt, equity and hybrid issuance.
Traveling to more than 15 African
nations, he has been instrumental in
forging partnerships in the public
and private sector encouraging US
companies to do business in Sub-
Saharan Africa. Throughout the years
Hon. Kebede has also organized and
implemented over 25 successful in-
bound and out-bound Trade and In-
vestment Missions to Ethiopia/ Sub-
Saharan Africa
Heidi: Tell us about the Honorary Con-
sulate of Ethiopia in Houston. What
parts of the United States are covered, and
what are the services it provides?
Hon. Kebede: By the way, I am the
first Honorary Cosul General of the
Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia in North America. I was
commissioned by the U. S. Depart-
ment of State in April, 2000. I repre-
sent Ethiopia in all public -diplomacy
issues and promote Ethiopian invest-
ment and Tourism opportunities in
Texas and beyond. We also have our
Ethiopian Embassy in Washington
DC and a Consulate office in L. A.
As you well know, the Honorary
Consulate position is a non-paying
job. I have been devoting my time
and resources to serving my country
for the last seventeen years. I cover
the whole state of Texas. Primarily
the services we provide are for Ethio-
pian citizens living in Texas. We also
support our Embassy in Washing-
ton D.C by distributing /providing
Ethiopian ID cards. We have what
we call “Ethiopian Yellow Card”,
which gives privileges to Ethiopian/
Etho-Americans living around the
world. They can travel to Ethiopia
without a visa, and will have all the
privileges within the country as any
Ethiopian citizen. That helps them a
lot, and my office here promotes that
effort. The Honorary Consular office
also provides first hand information
about the current affairs of Ethiopian
political and economic issues. There
are about 35,000 to 40,000 Ethiopi-
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