Addis Software, Building High-End Products for International Market

Addis Software joined the Ethiopian market hoping to prove that it’s possible to develop high-end software products for the International market from Ethiopia.

Addis Software is currently servicing foreign clients through projects starting from web design and development to large-scale web application services and the development of mobile apps. The company is also engaged in Search engine optimization(SEO) and Content management system(CMS).

Abenezer Yakob, a senior software developer from Sweden, and Eleni Worku, a software engineer came together to found Addis Software. The company works closely with its Swedish-based partner named Sweetopia, which is also founded by Abenezer Yakob and Tomek Fikas.

“The company came to be with the idea to create more IT job opportunities in Ethiopia, showing the world that quality software can be developed in Ethiopia with our developers,” said Eleni.

Addis Software also launched a project named Banks Ethiopia, a web platform that reviews and provides information about Ethiopian Banks. This project aims to make banking information easily accessible by ranking banks across different variables and providing other related information.

While it has served dozens of international clients so far, Addis Software aims to expand into the local market as well.

Much like many businesses in Ethiopia, Addis software has also gone through its fair share of challenges. Elleni explains,“The main obstacle at the beginning was fear, fear of starting Addis Software itself, fear of government policies, fear of not being able to find support from the government, fear of not being able to find projects.*

The other challenge was talent. Even though thousands of students graduate from ICT-related fields, the company found it challenging to recruit employees with the highest caliber to fit their work culture.

Despite the challenges, Elleni appreciates the journey and the progress made.

“We are very happy to see we can create job opportunities in our country. We are happy to know it is achievable, we are happy to know a world standard software can be developed in Ethiopia with our developers.”

Currently, home to 10 employees, the company plans to employ more than 50 individuals in the coming 5 to 10 years.

“The world seems to not escape from tech, and our country soon will go under a big tech revolution, and we hope to be a part of this big phenomenon,” says Eleni, detailing their plan.