![]() "You see? Again and again, this country has so many problems." The other (hotel) was 100% burnt and that is a little bit difficult to rebuild or renovate. "I spent five years to build these hotels but thanks to God, I have renovated one of the hotels. "Imagine, 400 people who work at the hotels lost their jobs and millions of birr (currency) was lost, like in half a day - burning is very easy. More than 160 people were killed in the unrest and property belonging to non-Oromos - who make up the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia - was targeted. The death of a popular singer called Hachalu Hundessa sparked unrest in the Ethiopian region of Oromia, where he was widely viewed as a hero. "In Ethiopia we have a lot of problems, with fighting in (the region of Tigray), hunger, political instability and last year I lost two of my hotels." However, in a country like Ethiopia, the global pandemic is only one of a number of existential threats. The arrival of COVID-19 has not been good for the bottom line although Gebrselassie says that business has now begun to pick up. you won't believe how many cinema halls there are in town now. (After a while) there was a big line to come and see them…. "After that Ethiopian filmmakers went out and started to make movies, comedies, love stories and slowly people came in. "There were no movies to show at the cinema so I found a person who knew how to write a script and hired some of the actors and actresses and told them to make a movie. But there was a serious problem with this venture. The former athlete built the Alem Cinema Hall behind the building he now works from and installed a modern screen with proper speakers and a bar-code ticketing system. But I said, 'hey guys, I don't know, this is my wish'." ![]() "(My family) said 'eh, why don't you give your money to poor people instead of spending it on nothing?'. In 2004 he decided to the open the first privately-owned cinema in the city. Realising that everyday realities were shifting, Gebrselassie decided to do something that many people - including members of his family - thought was absolutely crazy. Poverty levels have been reduced and consumers have discovered that they had time and money to spend. Until relatively recently, Ethiopia was considered an economic basket-case but it has experienced high levels of growth in the decade leading up to of the global pandemic.
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