Secretary General of Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA), Yusuf Ademnur as well as Binam Misgina, head of the trade and investment department at ECCSA failed to return to Ethiopia. The two officials tendered their resignation from the US.
The two officials traveled to the US with other teams to participate in the Ethio-US Trade Fair, which took place from November 5-6, 2021, in Washington DC. The trade fair was organized by ECCSA and Ethio-Promotion LLC, an event organizing and consulting company based in Maryland.
Days after the team, led by Melaku Ezezew (Eng.) participated in the event and returned to Ethiopia, Yusuf and Biniam, announced their defection.
ECCSA’s board decided to post vacancy announcement to recruit replacements, while assigning Wube Mengistu, Yusuf’s deputy, as acting secretary general.
Managers of close to 40 Ethiopian companies traveled to the US to participate in the trade fair. Some of these managers have also chosen to remain in the US, apart from the two ECCSA officials, sources told The Reporter.
The officials usually attain the positions under a stiff competition. Yet, this is not the first time that officials have defected after traveling abroad.
ECCSA is a non-political organization that represents the private sectors interests. However, officials of ECCSA and also the AddisAbaba Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (AACSA), the two vibrant associations compared to other similar organizations in all regional states, have been defecting in various similar occasions. In the past, government’s pressure on the private sector is usually used as a pretext.
ECCSA is a national umbrella having eighteen members comprising of nine Regional Chambers of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, two city Chambers of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, one national Chamber of Sectoral Association and six Sectoral Associations organized at a national level.
