Metasebia Yoseph is an Ethiopian‑American author, cultural strategist and media entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of creativity, technology and cultural storytelling. Born in Washington, D.C., she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Maryland and a Master of Arts in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University. She founded Design Week Addis Ababa, East Africa’s interdisciplinary design festival that has rallied local and international creatives around a design‑led vision for development and cultural engagement.
She is also the co‑founder of D!NK TV, a digital media platform producing youth‑focused content, including Latey: Looking for Love, Ethiopia’s first reality dating show that has sparked national conversation about culture, relationships and modern identities.
Her creative work extends beyond media into cultural strategy and innovation advisory through Addis Futures Lab, a venture studio and strategy platform that nurtures early‑stage ventures with global scalability. She is the author of A Culture of Coffee, a book on the history and significance of Ethiopian coffee, archived by the Library of Congress.
In this Birrmetrics’s Mintesinot Nigussie, she discusses her journey from cultural festivals to media disruption, her vision for developing Ethiopia’s creative economy, and the future of storytelling and startups in the country.
Birrmetrics: Your early work focused on art history and cultural storytelling, yet you have evolved into media, design, and tech entrepreneurship. Could you please unfold how this evolved?
Metasebia: When I graduated in 2008 with a degree in Art and Culture, the world was in the midst of a major financial crisis centered in the United States, where I was living. Opportunities were scarce, so I decided to travel to Ethiopia in search of better prospects, and I was right. I found many areas of opportunity and soon joined the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. Working there opened my eyes to how poorly we were using our rich culture and historical artifacts. I was shocked, knowing how Western countries generate millions in revenue from their art and museums. I wanted to change that, but at the time, I didn’t yet know how.
My family, worried I might not return to the US, encouraged me to pursue a master’s degree. I went on to complete a multidisciplinary program in Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University. It was an exciting fit for me, I’m a tech geek who loves culture, creativity, communication, and branding.
When I returned to Ethiopia, I explored different fields, teaching myself along the way and leaving a mark on each industry I entered. In finance, I worked at Kifiya Financial Technologies as marketing chief, helping to launch modern products that were still new to the country. In the creative sector, I launched Design Week, which remained active for ten years. Most recently, I co-founded Dink TV.
Whenever I launch a project, I want it to address a real market gap and be a little disruptive, shaking things up just enough to make a difference.
Why do you think Ethiopia, a land steeped in history and brimming with culture, has yet to translate its heritage into a global commercial stage?
For a long time, we tended to think only from an internal perspective. What we value here may not resonate the same way in other countries. We are only now beginning to broaden our view, but we still lack a truly multiperspective approach.
What inspired you to create Design Week Addis Ababa, what lessons did it reveal about Ethiopia’s creative industry, and why did you eventually decide to wrap it up?
I started Design Week to make up for a regret I had from my time at the Ethnological Museum. Around the world, the creative sector is a major part of the economy, they export history, films, fashion, you name it. In Ethiopia, creativity is abundant, but somehow the economic value of the sector is still seriously underestimated.
We’re starting to see shifts, with more creators diving into fashion and design, but most of it is still limited to the local market. One of the key challenges we discovered through Design Week is manufacturing capacity. Creators often have the demand, they get plenty of orders and could make real revenue, but their production limits and the high minimum orders required to work with established manufacturers hold them back. As a result, many remain stuck at the same stage.
Why haven’t we seen an Ethiopian movie win over the world yet?
Capital is the main barrier, even though local talent is on the rise. Producing a film requires substantial capital for high-quality equipment, professional editing software, and regulatory fees. Because filmmakers need to recover these costs and generate revenue, their creative scope is often constrained.
Could AI be a game-changer in bringing down these filmmaking costs?
Not quite yet. The technology is promising, but we’re not at the point where it can significantly cut production expenses locally. I am waiting for that moment to make a return to the media industry with a few new projects.
When Latey: Looking for Love premiered, it sparked intense reactions from viewers. Was that what you expected, and what conclusions did you draw from the audience’s response?
I didn’t expect the outcome, I just took the risk. My goal was to create a global-standard mind‑reader show, aimed primarily at young audiences. We had previously uploaded around 400 videos on our YouTube channel, but growth was slow. When I dug into the data, I noticed that our audience was most engaged with dating content. That insight shifted our focus. Before fully launching, I tested the idea with the community to see if such content would resonate within our cultural context. What I found was that much of the existing dating content online was too wild and often clashed with local norms. That’s when I decided it was the right time to launch Latey, keeping it fun, engaging, and culturally sensitive.
Publicly dating might not fully fit our cultural norms yet, but the show sparked global discussions and put Ethiopian creative standards in the international spotlight. The response also definitely improved between the first and second episodes. People were commenting in a way that showed a sense of togetherness.
Many people feel D!nk TV leans too Western and might mix with or overshadow our culture. How do you respond to that, and how do you balance global standards with local cultural values?
Phones keep us connected to the world, but when we bring global content locally, it’s on us to adapt and present it carefully, since international companies could step in and shape the market their way. That’s why we need to create through our own lens and storytelling first.
We are at a time when audiences are significantly shifting from traditional media like tv to social media. From a market player perspective, how is this shift transforming the media industry and the narration broadly?
We need to rethink how we tell our stories, whether we’re simply copying Western content or creating something original. At the same time, the environment for media entrepreneurs needs to be more supportive and geared toward helping them scale globally. Right now, many operate in spaces where experimentation is limited and failure is seen as a risk to avoid. That has to change. Startups need the support to grow, experiment freely, and not fear failure.
Tell me about your new venture studio, Addis Future Lab. What kind of startups are you currently incubating and what led you to create it? another disruption?
Design Week Addis Ababa helped create a platform to address the lack of awareness around design and its many forms. It planted a seed that’s now starting to take root. The real question is how we turn that into economic value and grow as a country. With Addis Future, we’re working to build strong brands by solving the gaps we identified along the way. As a venture studio, it supports small ventures and brands in scaling globally.
Right now, it focuses on sectors like beauty, AI, and fintech, with plans to launch and grow these ventures over the next five years.