Seventy-five senior Ethiopian government staff graduated from the Open University this week, after being ordered to study for an OU master of business administration degree by prime minister Meles Zenawi.
Mr Zenawi instructed his entire cabinet to enroll on the OU MBA Ethiopian partnership programme, set up in 1993 following the civil war, after successfully graduating from it himself. OU tutors have been regularly flying out to the horn of Africa, and now 4,000 government workers have signed up for the OU business certificate and diploma course.