A first generation college student, Maraki Ketema ’15 (St. Paul) was told early on by her parents that getting into the best schools required hard work, perseverance, and a little bit of luck. Kind of like receiving a “golden ticket.”
“Then you take it and run with it,” Ketema says, smiling. “Carleton happened to be the shiniest.”
Born in Ethiopia, Ketema met fellow computer science major Sabastian Mugazambi ’17 (Harare, Zimbabwe) while working at the Carleton IT help desk. Their common desire to promote economic development in Africa planted the seed for a technology business that—if all goes according to their ambitious plan—could provide a boost to merchants throughout the continent.
What Amazon and Alibaba are to America, Europe, and China, Ketema and Mugazambi hope Adisa will be to Africa. Lofty goals, certainly. But Ketema believes her e-commerce site can get there.
“Technology is a really powerful tool, and I don’t think it’s being effectively utilized in third world countries. It’s almost as if the entire continent has been skipped over,” Ketema says. “All they use there are phones … but they don’t have access to the things that will really help them move into the next stages economically.”
When Ketema was in Ethiopia for a freshman year internship, she saw the impact that tourists and visitors could have while buying handmade art, clothing, or spices in bulk. Mugazambi had a similar realization when his native clothing caught the eye of friends in America. That they were also willing to a pay a higher cost for the goods started them on the path to Adisa.
“If you were in Africa and you knew that Amazon existed, could you post your products there? It sounds easy to us, but there, you have to think about an Internet connection, and a computer, and a camera, and English speaking skills, the ability to write properly, managing your product, inventory, shipping—all these considerations before you even take the first step,” Ketema says.
“But the biggest constraint is money. They can’t buy the machinery they need to even post their product on an online platform.”
That’s where the Carleton tandem hopes Adisa (meaning “clarity”) can be a true agent of change. Ketema and Mugazambi envision hiring on-the-ground personnel who will provide the tools and training to get merchants accustomed to the site.
“That’s where we’re different. We have the education component,” Ketema says. “It will be readily available to merchants who are interested, and they can learn how to use the technology. Then they can become self sufficient.”
Ketema isn’t kidding herself. She knows it won’t be easy to move from idea to functioning business overnight. But the palpable excitement she feels for Adisa makes it hard not to “move as fast as we can.”
Sandwiched between all their Carleton activities, Ketema and Mugazambi schedule regular meetings. They’re gaining momentum for a website launch (www.shopadisa.com) and crowdsourcing campaign. They even pitched to Carleton alumni and other established Twin Cities entrepreneurs during the Career Center’s spring break Business and Entrepreneurship Scholars Trip.
And in fairness, Adisa has only been a realistic concept since winter. That’s when Ketema and Mugazambi qualified as semifinalists for the Resolution Project’s Social Venture Challenge at the Harvard National Model United Nations in Boston. They wrote a business plan—“5,000 words just to apply,” Ketema recalls—and with the help of Carleton faculty, began polishing their proposal.
While they didn’t win any seed money, “thinking about Adisa 24 hours a day” at the conference built an important foundation, Ketema says. The advice they’ve since received from business contacts and the Carleton community continues to propel them.
“Yes, it’s going to be challenging. Yes, a lot questions have yet to be answered. But every question can be answered. Every problem can be solved. Why not us?” Ketema says with utmost confidence.
“The background we come from, we see the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. It’s back to that golden ticket. I truly believe we have the potential to help a lot of individuals grow their business and get a lot of Africans moving forward.”