Project Proposal
Establishing Veterinary Clinic and Diagnostic Laboratory Prepared by Nell Angelo, General Manager, Ababa and Meleak Trade and Promotion PLC November, 2011
Submitted to ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________
Project Holder/Author: Ababa and Meleak Trade and Promotion PLC
General Manager: Nell Angelo
Address and Phone: Zone: Western Shoa Town: Addis Alem Kebele: 1 Woreda: Ejere House No.: New
0913. 21.58.54
1. Statement of Need Ethiopia has no private veterinary diagnostic laboratories for animals.
Although government regional and national laboratories exist, they usually provide services based on annual plans that are set as top-down directives. Occasionally, research activities, which are similarly centrally planned, are carried out at regional labs.
Therefore, government diagnostic facilities are very limited, and private facilities nonexistent. In essence, we cannot analyze blood or other, and there are no radiographic or ultrasonic examinations. The local vets are tremendously hampered by these setbacks and must rely on the literature and on their experience and intuition.
In these areas, their knowledge and skills are often considerable. However, frequently this situation is inadequate for solving the problems Ethiopian vets encounter. It is very difficult for them to get direct information about what is going on deep inside of an ill animal. The author of this proposal remembers the five animals she lost because of these conditions.
In conclusion, this deep-seated problem must be resolved at all levels of Ethiopian animal care, from domestic pets to the country’s livestock industry.
The livestock industry is pivotal to the livelihood of most Ethiopians. Eighty-five percent (85)% of Ethiopia’s people are engaged in agriculture, including livestock. Ethiopia’s development plan must include priority for solving the country’s lack of diagnostic facilities for animals. Solving the problem will greatly benefit a large percent of the nation’s population, reducing the country’s poverty level. In addition, solving the problem will greatly increase the contribution of the livestock industry to the national domestic product, and will also increase the in-flow of hard foreign currency, on which the country relies.
As indicated in this Statement of Need, it is easy to understand and appreciate the extent to which the proposed project would:
Eliminate the misery of animals (and of owners and veterinarians)
Contribute to local and national economies.
2. Project Phases and Geographic Locations This business project will be implemented in phases, at various locations. The first two areas will be Addis Ababa and Debre Zeit.
The first phase will establish facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, at a preselected site. Assuming resulting success and profitability of this phase, the project will expand to Debre Zeit, which is 47 Km southeast of Addis Ababa in the Eastern Showa Zone of Oromia Regional state.
Between them, Addis Ababa and Debre Zeit accommodate most of Ethiopia’s livestock-development businesses and institutions. In addition, they host most of the newly emerging market-oriented small-holder dairy farms and almost all of the large dairy farms that supply milk and milk by-products to the nation’s citizens. Also, they host these important institutions: the National Veterinary Institute (which produces vaccines that are used domestically and exported to Eastern African regions), the first and oldest Ethiopian veterinary school, several export abattoirs, and many poultry farms. They are also home to many other privately owned domestic animals, including equines, and most of the nation’s pets.
Therefore, these two areas are highly suitable host areas for the proposed business. While designing this project, the project holder considered the above facts to justify the profitability of the business.
In the project’s third phase, the project will expand to the towns of Holeta and
Addis Alem in Ethiopia’s Western Shoa Zone. These developing rural areas, which support large numbers of livestock and other domestic animals, are located approximately 40 and 50 Km from the western outskirts of Addis Ababa.
During its later phases, the project will expand to other suitable areas.
3. General Description and Project Execution The veterinary clinic and diagnostic lab will provide services to these main client streams:
Animals from local communities
Livestock farms
Local and surrounding animal-related NGOs, including those engaged in wildlife conservation
Domestic and export livestock industries
Domestic pets
The project will use its facilities to serve up to 100 animals per week with an average of 10-15/day by the end of the first year
The services will be rendered by a direct high quality veterinary clinic dealing with animal health problems. The clinic will include high-tech diagnostic equipment such as ultrasound and X-ray, and it will have complete modern facilities for major surgeries.
The other primary form of service will be laboratory-based diagnosis. The laboratory will be equipped with high-tech equipment for hematology, serology, histopathology and facilities for hormone analysis. It will be capable of establishing diagnoses for most of health problems caused by parasitic, bacterial, and viral agents. We believe that service seekers will be drawn by the high-tech facilities and other modern diagnostic equipment.
As the project develops, we will offer short-term training services for vet students and local vet professionals at different qualification levels.
The project will offer a percent of its services to low-cost categories, especially for neutering and spaying dogs and cats.
4. Required Equipment and Facilities The project is in the process of obtaining the following equipment and facilities:
Facilities for clinical diagnosis
X-ray equipment
Ultrasound system
Microscope
Hematologic analyzer
Serum biochemistry analyzer (e.g., liver and kidney functions)
Facilities for bacteriology
Facilities for parasitology (e.g., blood, feces, skin scrape)
Facilities for histopathology, including necropsy
Surgical setup (gas anesthesia system, surgical lamp, trolleys, O.R. supplies etc.)
Others
The project already has an in-kind transportation asset/resource: a small 4-wheel drive vehicle.
5. Required Manpower During the first two phases, the project will hire at least two local veterinarians (DVM) and two veterinary lab technologists (BSc) trained at different institutions within Ethiopia. To kick-start the business, one vet and one lab technologist will be employed.
Additional project manpower is listed in the following table.
Table 1. Manpower requirements
No
Position
No
Routine activity
1
Project manager
1
Control and manage the business
2
Veterinarian (DVM)
1
Execute clinical services
3
Visiting Veterinarian (MSc/PhD)
1
During weekly visits, perform sophisticated services
4
Vet lab Technologist (BSc)
1
Execute laboratory services
5
Cashier/ secretary/computer technologist
1
Execute receipts, accept payment, perform computer-based data gathering
6
Guard
2
Standby security
7
Janitor
1
Cleaning
6. Current State of Organization Project Holder and PLC Members
The project holder/author has founded an Ethiopian Private Limited Corporation
(PLC) called Ababa and Meleak Trade and Promotion PLC. The PLC has licenses from the Ethiopian government to conduct business operations. One of the PLC’s licenses is for establishing a veterinary clinic and diagnostic laboratory to provide veterinary services.
The project holder/author has lived in Ethiopia for a total of approximately seven years: 1968-1972, 2007-2011 (to present). She has over twenty years of experience running small businesses, including organizational and financial management, in the US and Ethiopia.
The other PLC members are
Dr Yonas Tolosa, DMV
Mrs Aynalem Simon, Accountant
Current Focus
Our current focus is three-fold:
Bringing shipments of donated equipment from the US to Addis Ababa, including locating funding to transport a recent donation of x-ray equipment and a microscope.
Locating additional staff
Acquiring a site and starting construction for the Addis Ababa clinic location
7. Action Plan - Goals for the First 18 Months 1. Obtain equipment, locate staff 2. Set up the clinic and laboratory at the Addis Ababa site. 3. Begin operations and attain significant client diagnoses, averaging 10-15 animals per week by the end of the first year.
8. Estimated Project Budget $41,500 USD for setup and first year's operation:
$10,000 for equipping and setting up the initial clinic and laboratory
$1,500 for one year's rent (for the initial site)
$10,000 for first-year's staff salaries (see Manpower Requirements table), utilities, taxes, etc.
$20,000 for construction of first clinic (in Addis Ababa).
Note: The project already has in-kind transportation resource: a small 4-wheel drive vehicle.
