The State of Project Management in Ethiopia
Our guest blogger, Mr. Getachew Teklemariam Aleum, is an International Correspondent for PMForum and PM World Today based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mr. Alemu is also an Infrastructure Projects Expert in the Development Projects Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, government of Ethiopia. This department is responsible for studying and controlling the project planning and management system at the federal level in the country. Getachew is responsible for monitoring, appraising and reporting on public sector infrastructure projects financed by the Ethiopian government or bilateral and multilateral donors. He has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection from Mekelle University in Ethiopia. He has also been educated in marco economic development, infrastructure development in developing countries, national economic development and project management. More information about Getachew Teklemariam can be found at Getachew Alemu named International Correspondent for PMForum in Ethiopia; Getachew can be contacted at getdem2006@yahoo.com.
Ethiopia is a country of immense history and culture. It is a land where above 85 ethnicities live together harmoniously experiencing their culture and tradition democratically. It is a land where human settlement is evidenced since back prehistoric times, as confirmed by a 5.9 million years old ancestral human being, Australopoticus Afarensis a.k.a Lucy. It is one of the places where modern civilization has got its basics, as can be seen from the remnants of the Aksumite empire, the second largest empire of its times, following the Roman empire. It is also the second oldest country to become officially Christian (at about 4th A.D) after Armenia. The co-existence of Islamic and Christian people in relative peace has also made it symbolic to religious consent.
Looking at the historic heritages of Aksumite Monuments, the Lalibella Monolithic Churches, the ruins of temple at Yeha, the king Facilledes Castle and other heritages recognized by UNESCO as world heritage sites, it could easily be inferred that Project Management in Ethiopia dates back to early times in history. At that time, the project manger would either be the king himself, the princess or a close colleague. For example, the great king Lalibella was the project manager for the magnificent rock-hewn churches of Lalibella.
Despite the fact that there are tangible historical evidences showing that project management dates back to early historic times, it has not reached where it has to reach if it is measured on the metrics of PM Education, PM Professional Recognition, International PM collaboration, PM area of application and etc. Rather it could be said that, it is still at its infant stage.
It is only in the past 5 or 6 years that project management becomes a discipline in its own right in company structures. Most of the commendation to this will go to international humanitarian organizations, multilateral donor agencies, bilateral development frameworks, NGOs and the infrastructure side of the public sector for adopting projectised way of executing activities, while the private sector become aware of the fact that projects are strategically important to maintain competitive advantage in the market.
According to a study conducted on December 2005, by the Development Projects Department of Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, a federal government unit delegated to coordinate, study, enforce, and provide technical support, on project planning and management in the country, of the 13 national universities which were existing by that time, none of them provide specialized Masters and PhD Degrees in project management. There is also no undergraduate (or specialized) degree being provided in the area of project planning and management in any of the universities in the country. Further, it is also found out that there are no short-term diploma courses being given by any of the universities.
Information personally acquired through an e-mail exchange with PMI officials shows that only five Ethiopians are certified as PMP until now. Despite the fact that a detail research output could not be found on the matter, from my experience, I could say that the use of project management aids like PRINCE 2, MS Project, AGILE, PRIMAVERA, and others, is little/none. If it ever exists, it is limited to the IT and Telecommunication sectors.
Being a project manger in an Ethiopian situation would be very challenging. The main challenges will be tight financial constraint, dissuasive stakeholders, poorly informed project sponsor, unsuitable institutional structure, inapt policy and legal environment, fragile socio-economic and market conditions and etc.
But there are also opportunities. Of these are, a growing economy, a booming infrastructure sector, a stable political environment, hardworking people, easy accessibility of land and labor resources, decentralized government service provision and etc.
If an integrated approach is employed to minimized the constraints, I believe that project management does have a lot to put forward to Ethiopia’s renaissance which we are preaching to realize in our unique millennium.
By Getachew Teklemariam Alemu.
Infrastructure Projects Expert (MoFED)
International Correspondent in Ethiopia (PM Forum Inc.)
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