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The TRUE AFRICA 100 is our list of innovators, opinion-formers, game-changers, pioneers, dreamers and mavericks who we feel are shaping the Africa of today.

Creative director Metasebia Yoseph is behind Design Week Addis Ababa, a week-long cultural and commercial series of events happening all across the city in December.

What do you hope to achieve with the design week?

Although design weeks take place all over the world, they are fairly new to Africa. I founded Design Week Addis Ababa with the goal of introducing design as a problem-solving tool that could sustainably address development challenges and civic issues in Ethiopia through our ‘development X design’ initiatives.

DWAA event(s) will celebrate the best in design and innovation across sectors in Ethiopia, in order to demonstrate the centrality of design to everything… from business, to urban planning and industry.

My hope is that DWAA will raise Addis Ababa’s profile as a global design capital.

My hope is that DWAA will advocate for local creative industries as an un-tapped economic force while officially introducing Ethiopia as a hub for innovation and design and raising Addis Ababa’s profile as a global design capital.

Here's my 2015 @designweek_aa re-cap! #ethiopia #dwaa15 #innovation #design #developmentXdesign

A video posted by #Metasebia Yoseph (@metasebiayoseph) on

What do you love most about Ethiopia?

I love its complexity. There are so many layers to its cultural richness, from the way we do coffee, music, food, to name a few. They offer so much diversity, and yet remain very collective experiences.

Who is my African of the year?

Mimi Alemayehou. Besides boasting a former presidential appointment and an impressive resume, she’s the perfect example of this new development dynamic, where Africans are not just occupying a place at the table, but instrumental in brokering game-changing successes. The new model is more about trade, rather than aid, and her track record embodies this new spirit.

Find out more about Design Week Addis Ababa

Follow Metasebia Yoseph on Twitter @metasebiayoseph

Come back tomorrow for the next TRUE Africa 100 and keep up to date using the hashtag #TRUEAfrica