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Networking Events and Professional Communities in Addis Ababa: A Budget Student’s Panic Scroll Through Links While Sipping Cold Coffee

@Grace Miller2/7/2026blog

so last week i was at a coffee place called ☕ Kafé Neo pretending to look busy while scrolling through meetup.com. the wifi was spotty, the meranda beans were vile, but i somehow found a networking event for startups hosted by some dude named alex who pretending to sip chai while wearing a suit two sizes too big. i joined. it was a disaster. nobody talked. a guy in a hoe tried to pitch blockchain to a group of other hoe-clad attendees. we called it ‘the blue shirt circle.’



(see? that’s real data. addis ababa’s startup scene is tiny. i read it on a slideshare from a local university. they say 62% of tech startups fail within a year. i also saw a table of three girls high-fiving at a paid workshop. cost? etb 800. in addis, that’s like… maybe a bag of posh roasted chicken?)



trust me, i’m not making this up. a buddy of mine swore by a pro tip: ‘if you don’t know anyone, show up early and loudly announce you’re here to network.’ i tried this. turned out the event was for a rural development NGO. people started talking about evictions. it was wholesome. weirdly.



here’s the part with data. addis ababa’s rent for a one-bedroom? etb 5,000-7,000/month depending on the neighborhood. safety? crime is low, but pickpocketing happens near the old market. jobs? hey, i saw a linkedin post from a dev named jeremy saying he got a remote job at a fintech in ethiopia after meeting someone at a hackathon. he paid etb 200 for the entry. local job boards? they’re chaotic. jobstreet.ethio is the thing to hate. remember that one from 2019? still up. no jobs. 140 comments.



(overheard gossip: ‘the bridges here are haunted.’ also, ‘the president’s neighbor is offering free coffee to investors.’ both true? maybe. i saw a guy in a tuge handing out coffee near the embassy. gave him etb 20. he just smiled and said, ‘you’re welcome, stranger.’)



addis ababa weather right now? it’s that weird warm-humid thing. like the clouds are holding a grudge. i drove to the lake today-cred-to see if it was actually calm. no. it was ripping with wind. but the view of the parliament buildings was epic. also, there’s a spot 20 minutes out called ebirat where the air’s clearer. bless those neighbors.



(another review: drunk advice from a guy at a hostel. he said, ‘if you want to network, avoid the libreya cafes. they’re just full of cats and tourists.’ unlucky for him. i met three freelance photographers there. one showed me his portfolio. it was nature shots. beautiful. terrible. he said addis needs more urban photographers. i asked him to join our meetup. he said no. his camera was dying.



so yeah, networking in addis is a gamble. there’s a subreddit called r/addisababa where people post event invites. i found a space for a digital nomad mixer in a co-working space called office19. cost? etb 300. they said it was ‘for serious professionals only.’ i showed up with a used ipad and a half-eaten ugali snack. they told me to leave. maybe it was discrimination. maybe my snack was too fresh.



i also found a yelp page for a place called the art loft. it’s a studio where street artists host talks. apparently, the owner is a hacker and a poet. i didn’t go. i couldn’t find it after 7 p.m. the reviews said they don’t lock the doors. real talk: probably a good thing.



(image of a body of water near buildings)
(image of a night city view)



links? definitely check out tripadvisor for addis ababa coffee shops. yelp has a list of coworking spaces. and r/addisababa has that meetup info. don’t trust the subreddit’s event posters. one guy spammed about a ‘tech summit’ that turned out to be a dj set.



in conclusion, addis ababa’s professional scene is all over the place. you might find a connection, or you might end up drunk at kofya café talking to a guy who claims he’s a former diplomat. probably neither. but hey, if you leave with a story-or at least a terrible photo of the blue shirt circle-it counts.

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About the author: Grace Miller

Student of life, taking notes for everyone else.

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