We are a group of like-minded Ethiopian engineers, architects, and planners who are concerned that as Ethiopia’s population continues to grow dramatically and is projected to reach 190-200 million by 2050, the scale of challenges that await the country in terms of basic and critical infrastructures in energy, water, food, housing, transportation, renewable resources, etc., are staggering. 

Driven by this concern, we formed a task force that will organize an international conference where thoughtful, practical, and bold solutions  to address these societal challenges will be presented. With the critical support of the country’s leading professional organizations, an international steering committee was then formed to: (a) lead this effort towards completion through an international technical conference and (b) select Blue Ribbon Panel to write a comprehensive report.This forthcoming report which will be a product of the international conference on the subject is intended to serve as a starting point for national conversation among policy-makers, political and economic leaders, professionals and various stake-holder towards formulation of concrete and actionable sets of policies that could turn these challenges into opportunities. 

Specifically, through sets of grand visions and a series of peer-reviewed research reports and white papers by subject matter experts in a variety of engineering, technology, and planning disciplines, the report will offer bold, feasible, and actionable grand ideas for addressing the top 10 grand challenges of the country. Blue Ribbon Panel of independent professionals will author this “Ethiopia 2050” final report, the successful outcome of which will be measured through its impact in (a) influencing policy making in the years to come and (b) encouraging the subsequent launch of entrepreneurial, public, and government activities around the proposed solutions.