Programs & Projects

The Ethiopian diaspora living in the United States have a strong motivation to engage with their homeland. However, they lack information on how to invest and what specifically to invest in. The Ethiopian diaspora are investing in the Ethiopian economy and,  if properly engaged, may be willing to invest more and more productively. This Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) helped an Ethiopian bank identify the best ways to capitalize on the investment interests of Ethiopians living in the United States through various diaspora financial products. The project focused upon ways to increase diaspora investment with the goals of increasing access to capital for the SMEs. Through both primary and secondary research, the project involved extensive information gathering around the needs and desires of Ethiopian diaspora living in the U.S. and the state of Ethiopian economy with focus on the banking environment, credit market and state of SME funding. Based on market research, the student MAP team recommended two financial products and two implementation strategies for the bank  to penetrate the diaspora marketplace.