Nael Hailemariam entrepreneur and founder of Chapa, a digital payment system in Ethiopia, says the Chinese school he went to, Open FIESTA, has contributed to his successful launching IT company.
“No matter where you are, the culture of Shenzhen is a part of you,” said entrepreneur Nael Hailemariam from Ethiopia who completed Open FIESTA’s Internet+Innovation Design program in 2021 at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS). Nael is the co-founder and CEO of Chapa Financial Technologies S.C. His experiences at SIGS and in Shenzhen have shaped his success as an entrepreneur.
In 2018, Nael entered Open FIESTA to study Internet+Innovation Design, which is a master’s program oriented to advanced interdisciplinary fields in information technology and innovative design. “Open FIESTA gave me freedom.” While at Open FIESTA, Nael took advantage of opportunities to combine his background in engineering with management and leadership.
In early 2020, the National Bank of Ethiopia issued a directive allowing non-banks to offer digital financial services. This was Nael’s chance to bring what he learned during his studies in China to a market he knew well, his home country of Ethiopia. This was also the beginning of Chapa. He devoted himself to bringing the advantages of an online payment infrastructure to Ethiopia.
Nael’s company Chapa successfully received a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia to work with private businesses in May of this year. “Shenzhen speed is also part of the value of our company,” said Nael. Moving forward, Nael and his team will continue drawing upon the Shenzhen culture of innovation and efficiency to expand their business into East Africa and eventually to the rest of the continent. His social commitment remains steadfast: he will continue to be an impact-maker and help improve the economy of his country.
Open FIESTA (Open Faculty for Innovation, Education, Sciences, Technology and Art）was co-established by Tsinghua University and the CRI Paris (the Center for Research and Interdisciplinary, now formally changed name as ‘Learning Planet Institute’ in June 2015). Open FIESTA is dedicated to integrate global innovation resources, work towards the creation of new knowledge, explore complex social and scientific problems, nurture the students with creative ideas and innovation, and inculcate in professionalism and a sense of social responsibility.
Open FIESTA offers two Master’s programs to international students, including Master of Electronic Information (Internet + Innovation Design), and Master of Precision Medicine and Healthcare （BIO³) – Biology-Nanobiology-Bioinformatics.
Chapa is an Ethiopian Financial Service and Data Engineering Company. Chapa allows businesses to collect payments from their customers anywhere in the world using web and mobile.