Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi
By Fitsum G.
October 26, 2007
There seems to have developed a tradition in this country that dictates that people who have done good cannot be thanked and honored until and unless they pass away. Only then every one would be willing to shed tears, use flowery language to recall the past acknowledging the wonders made; a committee would be formed immediately to study the possibility of erecting a monument etc. But why all this only after death? The time has come to challenge such costume and think of bringing up a fresh approach to honoring people while still alive. And there would be plenty: forgotten scientists, doctors, and professors while we tend to focus on artists and athletes. But even brilliant people in other disciplines such as in trade and investment, who thanks to their entrepreneurial initiative, have contributed substantially to the improvement in the lives of scores of people, should be included here. People should not be honored only posthumously. Any one who reaches such level of excellence and merit, deserving the appreciation and affection of people would not feel flattered by such gesture and ponder stopping to work. On the contrary! They would be stimulated to work harder and attain more excellence, deserving even more tribute and convincing the more skeptics that they really deserve what has been accorded them. It must be such innovative mentality in the background that has resulted in the making of a DVD on the life and exploits of Dr. Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi. And it deserves to be appreciated, because whatever Sheik Mohammed has been doing in Ethiopia during the past two decades certainly has no match, nor precedent. As much as there are people who, associating Sheik Mohammed very much with the inner circles of the incumbent government, are heard expressing reservation over his ventures (even while not denying their appreciation for his commitment and contribution to our economy), there are others who instead look with diffidence and reservation at his entourage and squad. They believe whatever wrong he might do, it must be a result of their bias or misinformation and distorted facts. Many attribute to such shortcomings of his advisors the fact that Sheik Mohammed’s companies here are not cited among champions of transparency and accountability and hence efficiency and profitability (may be a result of the owner’s humanitarian approach to employment at the cost of efficiency and profit). Above all, many would rather have liked to see him more engaged in using his financial muscles to bring about a certain positive influence in the way the incumbent government bureaucracy is made to function. But for an entrepreneur such as Sheik Mohammed, it would be difficult to operate posturing himself at loggerheads or in rivalry with the system, even if it would not be hard to presume that he would have preferred to work with a more efficient, less bureaucratic and more transparent and accountable administration (with inevitable public approval and acclaim). Political affiliations apart, Sheik Mohammed’s endeavours in Ethiopia are certainly outstanding and deserve appreciation any way. ‘Mohammed has salvaged the troubled Millennium ship.’ ‘Mohammed is a messenger sent from God to salvage Ethiopia.’ ‘What would this country look like without Sheik Mohammed?’ ‘I wish there were five Mohammeds in this country, and we would all be better off!’ Such remarks are widely heard and testify to the increasingly prominent position Dr Mohammed has come to attain here. However, I guess the recently released DVD on him was evidently not made to try and state the obvious or give him the credit that is owed him by thousands, but to attempt to reveal to the public the various little known or undisclosed facets of the outstanding and versatile personality of Dr Mohammed: the brilliant modern day entrepreneur, the fervent nationalist, the compassionate philanthropist, and the man who knows how to take life with a certain joie de vivre. No one in Ethiopia would have ever dreamed of seeing the Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce or Ludacris paying astronomic fees for their performance with an ad hoc stage prepared (leaving aside the critics who consider this ‘futile extravaganza’). No one would have bothered to build a hotel with a collection of luxuries as Sheraton (another breakthrough for Ethiopian image, a step forward to its tourist attraction ambitions), and of course it had resulted impossible to build the first and only cardiac center here in Ethiopia until the decisive support came from him: the usual Sheik Al Amoudi. The project initiator cardiologist Dr Belay Abegaz, would just not stop thanking the philanthropist for another of his well meaning gesture, passing the task to the children and parents, potential beneficiaries of such center. Dr Mohammed has also sponsored for three years in a row the CECAFA tournament (East African Cup) paying for all the necessary expenses, and the medal conferred on him by FIFA president Sepp Blatter pays due tribute to this while in the meantime Ethiopian football fans are counting down for the day they have always dreamt of: the reality of a brand new modern stadium, courtesy of another benevolent gesture of the football fan, Sheik Mohammed! May be these are just commonly known and publicized facts about what Al Amoudi has meant for folks here and in a way, the recently inaugurated DVD on his life goes only a step further in disclosing to the public some unknown facts about him. Leaving aside the general cliché (facile and naïve) of Al Amoudi tainted with lavish admiration or adulation attributing him with superpowers, (nothing would be impossible for him when it becomes a matter of money); a man who loves to enjoy life, even in simple manners, such as going about with his ‘entourage’ to the Gas Light at Sheraton or pubs and clubs; his notorious weakness for music and football, his joie de vivre expressed through partying and exhilarating mood), people should consider the sublime entrepreneurial skills he has developed through the years making him reach the zenith of success in a world full of cut-throat competition. (He was awarded several times worldwide.) Hence entertaining only a naïve image of Sheik Mohammed should be out of question. (As board chairman of a quantity of holdings across the globe, Sheik Mohammed certainly deserves great credit and honor for what he has managed to achieve and his potential to contribute more to Ethiopia is evident. The DVD may not show the secret of such sublime success limiting itself to tracing back his origins and focusing on his early development (looking at his family ties and referring to testimonies of friends and relatives). All this may contribute to clear the man’s current psychological make up and the background to his limitless love for his land and unreserved compassion for his compatriots. In more than one occasion, he has exhibited exceptional modesty stating that his biggest award was conferred on him when he was allowed to come back to his motherland to realize the dream of investing, working and contributing to the alleviation of poverty. MIDROC Ethiopia employs thousands of citizens pledging to do more in the coming years. That is what he declared when he was awarded the medal as ‘the Man of the Millennium’. “Together”, he asserted, “we can change this country”, appealing to the emotions of every well meaning Ethiopian.