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Top 20 Richest Ethiopians – 2011

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

The following is a list of 20 richest Ethiopians in 2011. The list is compiled by Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit. Except for a few of the individuals in the list, most of them, particularly the TPLF members, have enriched themselves through corruption and outright thievery. Girma Birru and Tadesse Haile, for example, forced construction companies to make them partners if they want to win bid for government projects. These are the parasites who made Ethiopia one of the poorest nations in the world. Only Eyob Mamo, who owns most of the gas stations in the Washington DC Metro Area, became rich through sheer hard work, business savvy,  and some luck. Omer Ali, Ketema Kebede, and Minwuyelet Atnafu are not affiliated with the ruling party, but they pay huge sums of money to Azeb Mesfin and the other TPLF thugs to keep working inside the country. 

The 20 Richest Ethiopian in 2011

(The net worth amount is in U.S. dollar)

  1. Mohammed Al Amoudi, owner of Midroc Corporation, estimated net worth: $10 billion
  2. Meles Zenawi, self-declared prime minister of Ethiopia, head of the terrorist group Tigrean People Liberation Front (TPLF), estimated net worth: $3 billion
  3. Azeb Mesfin, wife of Meles Zenawi, member of the TPLF politburo, head of the $40-billion Endowment Fund for the Relief of Tigray (EFFORT), partner in several large businesses in Ethiopia, widely known as “the Mother of Corruption,” estimated net worth: $3 billion
  4. Sebhat Nega, former chairman of TPLF, ex-TPLF politburo member, former head of EFFORT, current chairman of Wugagan Bank, owns several buildings and luxury villas in Ethiopia and the U.S., net worth: $2.5 billion
  5. Berhane Gebrekristos, TPLF central committee members, personal investor for Meles Zenawi, paid his wife $4 million in divorce settlement and hush-up money in Washington DC when he was an ambassador, currently deputy foreign minister, uses his diplomatic immunity to smuggle gold and precious stones for Meles, Azeb and himself, estimated net worth: $2 billion.
  6. Samuel Tafesse, owner of Sunshine Construction, partner with Azeb Mesfin, estimated networth: $1.5 billion
  7. Sioum Mesfin, former TPLF regime foreign affairs minister, currently ambassador to China, smuggles marijuana and other types of illicit drugs to Thailand, China and other Asian countries using his diplomatic immunity, estimated net worth: $1 billion.
  8. Omer Ali Shifaw, Owner of Nejat International, until TPLF’s Guna Corporation took over, the largest coffee exporting company in Ethiopia, currently threatened by TPLF’s Guna Corporation, estimated net worth: $800 million
  9. Aba Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos), self-installed patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, part-time priest, full time businessman and gun-totting TPLF cadre, the only “religious” leader in Ethiopia who built a statue for himself, owns shares in several companies, estimated net worth: $600 million
  10. Abadi Zemo, TPLF politburo member, former head of EFFORT, currenly ambassador to Sudan, net worth: $500 million.
  11. Eyob Mamo, CEO and Chairman of Capitol Petroleum Group, Washington DC, estimated worth: $500 million.
  12. Ketema Kebede, KK Trading, Alsam Real Estate, Addis Ababa, estimated networth: $400 million.
  13. Minwuyelet Atnafu,  Owner and major share holder of Star Business Group, Tana Transport, Mina Trading, estimated net worth: $400 million.
  14. Girma Birru, former TPLF Trade and Industry minister, currently ambassador to Washington DC, owns shares in several large companies, including Dembel Business Center in Addis Ababa, owns several real estate properties, estimated net worth: $300 million
  15. Tadesse Haile, long-time state minister of Trade and Industry, invests in several large projects that he himself authorizes, owns shares in construction and trading companies, estimated net worth: $250 million
  16. Tewodros Hagos, TPLF politburo member, owns shares in several of EFFORT companies, estimated net worth: $200 million
  17. Abdullah Bagersh, General Manager of Bagersh International, a leading coffee exporter, currently struggling to survive after Guna entered the coffee exporting business, estimated net worth: $150 million.
  18. Debre-Tsion Gebre-Michael, TPLF politburo member and information technology minister, tasked  with jamming radio, TV and and web sites, travels regularly to the U.S. and Europe to invest his loot, owns shares in companies that work on projects for his minstry, has several real estate properties in Arizona, estimated net worth: $100 million
  19. Bereket Simon, TPLF propaganda chief, owns real estate properties, estimated worth: $100 million.
  20. Yemiru Nega, owner of Dembel City Center, partner with Azeb Mesfin, Girma Biru and Tadesse haile, estimated net worth: $100 million

We would like to hear your views about the Top 20 List. Please leave your comment below. 

134 thoughts on “Top 20 Richest Ethiopians – 2011”

  2. Politbureau members ot Tigre people liberation Front walked to Addis with sack cloth and rags on their backs and slippers to call shoes.

    Look at these looters, they have licked the country dry. No wonder Ethiopia is the poorest country in the world with these ticks sucking the blood out of the people.

  5. #49 hayat if you think Elias is not telling the truth what do you do here you chicken head Dedebit rat why do not you go to Beniam Kebede’s web sight Ethiopiafirst or Walta web sight go right now you son of Dedebit.

    Not Everything is TPLF's fault replies:
    December 15th, 2011 at 2:59 AM

    We all know that Alamoudi is not Ethiopian and it is also leaving a lot of strong successful companies out of the list. And there is no way I would believe this list is correct. My position on this is “you can’t believe everything you read”. How did he come up with this list? How did he know their net worth? Forbes doesn’t just list the richest there is a lot of investigation done about companies. Yes there are a lot of millionaires created after TPLF, why are we surprised. It has been 20 years and you are saying people can’t be successful in Ethiopia if they work hard. We were socialist country before them. I am by no means for TPLF but I just can’t act like our citizens can’t be millionaires unless they are crooks. No way, I believe as a small shop owner I will become a millionaires someday. I have to aim higher. Did a certain group in Ethiopia benefit because of TPLF? Yes Yes I see it daily in customs, government offices… And if you ask me did certain group benefit before TPLF Yes. As my father says we gave bribes during derg but the officials at that time thought eating korte and drinking whiskey was the high life. The officials now are too smart they want a lot more. I think there is no difference in them. They are all hodamoch. I know for a fact no 6, 8, 12, 17, and 20 are self-made millionaires.

  6. MY CHAT WITH X-WOYANE CADRE IN THE LAND OF WORSAY/YKA’ALO
    Shaebia sr- Congras! welcome young brother to the Hotel of HADE HZBI HADE LIBI in Sahel, at Nakfa town. Please make yourself feel at home. May i treat you first with home grown areki/swa/tela drink?

    X-Woyane jr- Pleasure is mine aya/big brother. All i’m looking forward now is gual-hiwan/chic to enjoy myself by scoring and slicing underage konjo vergin alive who has a vicious killer body. I think this is not mush to ask for prodemocrat who boldly liberated himself from the evils of aparthied racist minority dictatorship and the persuits of ill-gotten fortune in the expense of millions starved Ethiopian mouthes. Don’t you agree?

    Shaebia jr- Yes, ofcourse, you certainly deserve so, but unfortunately this is a holly Hotel of the common people that respects strictly the law of the land. Please beaware that you are in a pimp-free-zone. Neverthless, If i may proceed asking Junior, what does Sahel mean to you?

    Woyane jr-(Oh, my bad! in a split second, i thought i was visiting in one of the Ethiopian Kilis infested with cheap hores. Bad habit is hard to die, i suppose). Responding your question, why did you pretend as if you don’t know Sahel was the very place i took first baby step blessed to do good things as woyanay/tegay which regretably dishonored my commitment obviously making it lesson-unlearned once i suddenly found myself in control of that fat-cow anceint step mother land. I guess, like a true love, the irresistable kitfo has a magical power making one blind as well.

    Shaebia sr- What do you mean to ‘do good things’? Would you please more specific?

    Woyane jr- Well, sharing the big hambasha with my fellow Ethiopians fairly and iquitably spicing it up with good governance and not to mention living with our lawabbiding nieghbours in peace and mutual interests. In short, Sahel was/is about justice, unity, development, etc. No wonder, corrupt dictators and their puppets always bellite, dislike and constantly attack such worthy of good example living and nonliving matters…..

  8. Thank you Ethiopian review for updating us with the list of THUGTATOCRATS. They are currently bleeding Ethiopia dry. I am afraid the quoted stolen sum of money stashed in their pocket is understated because these money launderers have a lot of illicit businesses. For example meles has regularly sold ethiopian soldiers as bandas fighting the so-called USA war on terrorism in somalia , where by he recieved millions of dollars for each ethiopian soldier deployed in somalia from the USA (refer to the Wikilikis reference to ethiopia’s role as a mercenary for the USA and Yamamotos declaration of the “fantastic Ethiopian job” -a pretty banda bulshit. This is stashed direct to his private bank account.

  9. EFFORT is 40 billion USD worth ?
    They say that company controls half of Ethiopia’s economy.
    It would have been helpful to provide evidence how Elias and co. came to those figures,to give the info some credibility.

    In the last 20 years the woyanes might have received over 30 billion USD from the West in the name of Ethiopia and the poor. Woyanes control trade within the country and abroad. Export volume of the last 20 years could be some 30 billion USD. Woyanes trade with kids,they get 25000 – 50000 USD for each sold kid.
    How many did they sold so far ? 10 000 ?
    They export maids to Arab countries maybe hundreds of thousands in the last 20 years. They make thousands of dollars from each.
    They trade with chat,with gold. They have sold millions of hectare land to foreigners, which should be worth tens of billions USD.
    They receive bribes when foreign companies invest in the country, and when infrastructures like dams and roads are built. They benefit from the billions of dollars remittance in the last 20 years. They benefit from inflation. 1 Dollar was worth 2 Birr when they came to power now it is 17 Birr.Who knows the Meles regime could get also some percentage of the billion or so USD Ethiopia pays annually to Djibouti. All that sums up to tens of billions USD.

    Much of the money could have been invested in countries like Sudan,Kenya,Uganda,Djibouti and other neighbouring countries. A lot of money also in the US,Europe,Asia and middle east. To track all that money and bring it back to Ethiopia is a holy mission for Elias and co. and the rest of us.

  10. I am restless and impatient an Ethiopian as the rest of you, Ethiopians are.I want all of the thieves to be arrested and imprisoned as soon as possible.

    Whose resources and lives are these looters and murderes exploiting and wasting anyway?

    Al Amoudi,stranger to the people and an alien to the country;Zinawi,a career criminal with multiple identity,and the rest of gangs and mafias, men and women who surround Zinawi, not only have they billions of stolen dollars in their bank account,they have gallons and gallons of Ethiopians’ blood in their hands.We sure enough must step up our coordinated effort to completely demolish the system that the wicked and the weired thieves built to bankrupt Ethiopia.

    This is finacial criminal.Is Azeb Gola Mesfin worth the billion dollars stolen money? She has also committed commercial crime.

    On top of everything else,EFFORT is generating billions of dollar in revenue and additional billions of dollars in profits from illegal business transactions both nationally and internationally.Ethiopians are left out helplessly.Our objective is to keep informed and act as quickly as possible,and our ultimate goal is to have a democratic state and eliminate waste on finace and to save milions of lives.

    The enemies would not leave our country and us volunterly.Recall images of Gaddafi;did he volunterly leave the lives of Libyans? He was a tradational dictator and was a murderer and a looter;now,dead,he is off the lives of Libyans.Dear,readers;your great love is Ethiopians,and you are becoming a champion soon,even it meanse a lot more consistently fighting against the enemy wherever you are until its crushed to its complete defeat.For sure, we will retalate the enemies with victory.

  11. Meles and Azeb have ammassed close to 6B dollars and on the other hand PIA has sent his daughter to Sawa. Look at the clip above while he is dancing with his daughter. I don’t care what you think about Isaias but one thing that you should bear in mind is that if something happens to Isaias no one is going to bother his family.On the contrary, Meles and his Co are more worried about the security of gays in Ethiopia more than the 1 million homeless living destitutly on the streets.

  14. The easiest way to build the so called Hidase dam right now is by just forcing the return of the illicit out flow which accounts close to 12 billion (OMG). The only way we can do that is to louden our voices in the faces of the western. People lets just do that. Or lets work on setting up the venue for Meles to stand against sebhat or Vice versa so that we can recover around 3 billion of it.(OMG again)

  15. If you see the recent report by Global Financial integrity from 2000 to 2009 $11.7 billion is out from Ethiopia by Melesse and his servants ,so Elias’s report is true.

  17. Oh Almighty God Please bring back again Socialism so that things shall reverse and restored to a sane condition so that የተራቡትንም አጠገባቸው ባለጠጎችንም ባዶ እጃቸውን ሰደዳቸው happens once gain. Not dirty politics and our mere shouting but it is rather almighty God who is the highest judge and mediator of this whole world and life in it and knows how to restore this all ENTROPY. And I pray for that same history to happen once again. This all is looted money that impoverishes and devastates the life of millions of Ethiopians. And do you think that God shall simply keep quite?
    No it will give its own judgment and it is a matter of time. And eventually the tragedy of the majority poor becomes a comedy and the comedy of the minority rich becomes a tragedy eventually. And hence it is my wish a better version of Derg comes back again and same event like past shall reverse the course of history and then divine justice takes place.

  19. yeese deki Tigray…we want you to be more richer than you are now….hope you will be happy for that the ruminants of dergue

    Ahadu replies:
    December 17th, 2011 at 8:31 AM

    To go that low to respond to theses illitrates is really waste of time ask your crime minister to fund some institutes to build your mental development so that you can discuss with other Ethiopians ,that would be my last to reply for woyanne dudes who are blinded by the woyanne cult law (lies)

  20. What we witness ib todays Ethiopia is really unfortunate. The level of coruption abuse of power by the cleptocratic, rootless regime is unimaginable. What surprises me know is the fact that some members of the diaspora are scrambling for the land grab in Ethiopia. It is like Amharic proverb “Yeabatih bet sizaraf antem abreh ziraf”.

    Fellow citzens, I don’t know what we are waiting for? Meles & his cleptocratic regime has sucked the blood of our people for the last 20 years and still continues to do it. The regime is scaveging on the carcass of our famaine ravanged brothers and sisters. shame on them and shame on those who supports this rootless regime.

    I observed some coments who dare to challege the accuracy of these facts. No wonder, the cadres of Meles can go to any lenth to discredit facts and defend the defenceless. My doubt is tothe contrary. If we look to the recent report issued by the Global Financial Integirty only in one year (2009) there was more than $3.2 billion stashed away by the rogue regime. In the light of this, I wonder if the disclosure by Elias goes to the full extent of the fact.

  23. Kk, Ketema Kebed is the person who worked so hard for the last 30 years so please don’t put him
    with the reast of them….KK I wish you all the best and love you….may God be with you!!!!!!!!!

  24. At least Ellias kifle has been making a cosorted effort to get his message across to Meles and his subservient dogs. If I have any thing to say today to every one who reads this piece would be for all of us to stop talking and start shooting the thieves and criminals. Only then they will start listening to us. Therefore my good friend Elias, I urge you to be practical and use the opportunity you have to organize and mobilize all freedom loving Ethiopians to rise up against the ocupying mercinaries.Make that call, I’ll be there to join you.

  25. For the people who don’t know KK, Ketema Kebed, He is amazing human being….he work so hard and
    he never stol from any body, he actualy help so many peopole in Ethiopia so please live KK alone….KK
    May GOD be with you and much love…..so many people loves you so please keep the good job going, you are
    realy person I wish all Ethipoian were like……I love you KK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  26. Ketema Kebede is the person who work so hard for the last 30 years and he never stol any money from any body, it is all hard work and still working hard….so Be Be I want to say thank you for telling the truth….we need a person like Ketema Kebede in Ethipoia!!!! MUCH LOVE TO KK!

  27. My question is: Will the international community and courts, when presented with this information, begin to recognize the illegal actions of the present goverment of Ethiopia, and then, when this govenment is closed down, exact these sums and give them back to the people?

  30. what will elias bring to us.
    Derg came, he shouted for the people, ethiopia tikidem, then side with students for meret larashu. Eventually killed aman amdom with teferi and then killed teferi for the whole control. ruled for 17yrs.

    Meles came, side with olf in london shouting ankes 39, then outkasted lencho. then again we witnessed the saying “egna sinrakot siltan le amara kemiset meles yifenchibet” and siye went straight to jail. meles continue to rule for the 21st yr.

    SO What gurantee do we have ene bereket sihedu ene andargachew genzeb kegna lay endemayikemu? yene birhanu nega wendimoch techemari million endemayafisu.(Ato nega is one of the prominent business magnate in ethiopia ownning enbilta hotel, tegenu bldg, rock bottom recreational, bole rock recreational)

    Pls leave us alone. We know power is a very addictive drug. Mr x gone mr y comes its all the same legna. Ethiopia has been in debt of 5.4 usd from russia during the derg regime and now ene meles has looted 11.7 bil usd. I had 600 birr salry during derg now i get 3000 birr but same ol same shitty life (its all a number play)

    lol @new york freedom fighters though. if u want meles to die like gadafi, come here and cast the first stone. I will follow u cuz life is shitty anyway. But dont tell me to do it watching american idol over there.

  31. I don’t for a minute doubt that the country is being looted by the aforementioned guys however,I think you guys are definitely haters…in the other news you put the combined wealth of azeb and meles zenawi at 1.2billion and yet here you claim each of them have 3 billion. where do you get your facts? or is it how opposition reporting is done these days? Shameful!

  33. Star Business Group is an integrated and hard working company that is serving the people of Ethiopia, The leaders at SBG are very intellectual, ambitious, who actualyy exemplify themselves to other companies!!!

  34. Star Business Group is one of a real model company to others in Ethiopia. SBG has been contributing its effort for the development of Ethiopia for years now. The business owners of SBG and the staff members are highly dedicated, hard workers, and ambitious people. They have served the people of Ethiopian and created jobs for many. They helped people in rural areas in building rods, establishing schools and supply materials.

  36. keep up doing good job Elias! It’s obvious that Woyane is destroying the nation in a number of ways like corruption,racism & war! Meles handed over two cities of Ethiopia to Erithrea,thousands of young Ethiopians lost their life in that bloody war & now he is collecting billions of birr from poor people who are battling with economic down turn & poverty for Abay project which is fake! But his children & relatives lead a luxurious life in London! Specially his daughter is queen of night clubs & spends every night consuming hard liquors & blowing cigars in the air by the money that Meles & Azeb rob from innocent Ethiopians! Actually he & his people spent 17 years in forest with wild animals & that is why he acts & thinks like animal! Even a friend of mine told me that there was a time when Tigray people were transporting fertile soils from Amhara,Oromia & Southern region by huge trucks to make their deserted region productive! When I was student at Jimma University some students from Tigray had pistols,guns & bombs in their dormitory! No one had authority to ask them, because the University officials had already been warned not to question the students about the gun! Whenever riot breaks out between students due to racism or politics, these students shoot every body by their guns! I hope one day all this drama will remain history! The time motherland will regain her past glory & get a faithful leader will come very soon! God bless Ethio!!!

  37. Please I beg you Mr Auther, every thing has a limit but yours has not the fact that you are completly out of the truth, gues what you try to convine people but believe me you remain naked with out even under ware. So please when you lies do not make it like a big mountain, I feel sorry myself wasting my valuable time for such kind of nonsense things.

  38. As noted many of the above are members of the TPLF have profited immmensely from this connection. I do believe their some legitimate businessmen that have made their money honestly for the most part. Those that have benefited from the bloodshed of others should be made to pay as well as those who benefited through them. Enough is enough. Africa and the Middle East conduct all business with graft and bribes in mind :(

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