The School of Commerce, better known as “Commerce”, was established in 1943, soon after the Italian defeat, to address the nation’s need for trained human resources in modern management and business development. Through careful leadership and skillful delivery of well-trained professionals in business, banking, management, and others, Commerce managed to earn national and international recognition.
As the first technical training institute in the country, it quickly established itself as a leading innovative educational institution, a center of excellence in business and finance, long before such a term became common. The recent designation as a national heritage of both the institution’s name and a number of buildings within its compound attest to this. More importantly, generations of alumni that have played, and continue to play, critical roles in business management, leadership, finance, administration, and academics, both within Ethiopia and abroad, are the true measure of Commerce’s success.
The success of major financial institutions that have, through the years, built their headquarters around Commerce is also a testament to the ongoing close working relationship with this prestigious institution, the natural law of attraction. This is not unusual as London, New York, and Toronto’s financial centers also include a major academic institution, both physically and otherwise, that plays a key role in developing the human capital of the institutions in those centers.
The current national strategy for Higher Education in Ethiopia encourages more autonomy to higher educational institutions and strong public-private partnerships. Furthermore, the School recently completed constructing a modern building complex, at the cost of around 400 million ETB, as part of its continued effort to address the nation’s growing demand for highly trained human capital.
Ethiopia has embarked on a digital transformation journey to create a fully integrated and inclusive digital economy that leverages emerging and disruptive technologies, and there are plans to introduce a capital market. With this in mind, the School is working with key stakeholders on building the workforce of tomorrow.
With the above in mind, we are disheartened to learn of the recent decision of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education to have the School of Commerce evacuate its heritage-designated campus on Ras Abebe Aregay street. This decision seems to be rushed, inconsistent with the realities on the ground, and lacks the vision that such national educational institutions require. We, the undersigned, therefore:
a) Call upon the Ministry of Science and Higher Education to reverse/rescind its decision to have the institution evacuate its current campus on Ras Abebe Aregay street.
b) Call on all stakeholders, including major financial institutions, major businesses, and the Ethiopian government, to collaborate in developing a grand vision to invest in re-establishing the School of Commerce as a Centre of Excellence in business and finance that meets their current and future needs.