Carlo Ertola

Name: Carlo Ertola
Address: Addis Ababa, ET
Telephone: +251911305281
Price range: ££

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Carlo Ertola

Digital Consultant | Voice Coach | Musician
𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘢 🇪🇹 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 🌐 Contact me today and let’s chat about how we can work together.

I’m a freelance digital professional and voice coach who loves to help people communicate better, digitally and in person. With over 10 years of experience, I offer various services from web development and SEO to email marketing and social media. I also help individuals and businesses improve their vocal skills through personalized coaching sessions. Whether you need a stunning website, an effective digital marketing strategy, or a confident voice, I’m here to help you achieve your goals.

25/08/2026

Spent my morning exploring a school readiness bazaar organized by Zer Zeri Educational Solutions.

The event packs a variety of fun activities, school materials, and educational portals all in one space at the Addis Ababa Park in front of Hilton Hotel (Kazanchis)

Makes me wonder what it means, aside from the school supplies and apparel, to get ready for learning in this new era of AI and interconnected digital devices.

What do you think?

P.S. Event is running until Sunday and entrance is free, so if you have kids, nieces, or grandchildren, it would be a great idea to check it out together.

13/08/2026

Africa has less than 1% of the world’s data center capacity.

I don't know about you, but this number freaks me out when I think about the future 😅

Cassava Technologies and The Rockefeller Foundation are now expanding access to AI computing infrastructure across eight African countries, including Ethiopia.

I work from Addis Ababa with businesses on both sides of a strange divide: international companies trying to understand the Ethiopian market, and Ethiopian businesses trying to compete beyond the borders of a nation that has only recently promised some of its most successful ventures access to a legal and financial framework to go global.

AI could make that divide much smaller.

Digital Green is already using AI here to give farmers localized agricultural advice. With more computing capacity available on the continent, things like Amharic and other local language models, speech recognition, locally trained systems and cheaper AI services become far more realistic for companies like Hasab AI who have already made massive contributions without having the local rails.

That matters because Africa shouldn’t have to rent its intelligence infrastructure forever.

For foreign businesses looking at Ethiopia, better local AI infrastructure could make understanding and serving this market considerably easier.

For Ethiopian startups, the opportunity is bigger.

We can build here and sell everywhere.

Africa’s AI economy is projected to reach $1.2 trillion.

The question for Ethiopia is how much of that value we intend to create ourselves.

08/08/2026

Ethiopian oldies are my favorite when it comes to music, right next to my timeless obsession with Bob Marley.

It makes me wonder: why doesn't new music excite me that much?

Maybe it's the scarcity of emotion and the dumbed-down lyrics?

Perhaps it has to do with the poor storytelling and lifeless characters?

I'm not sure what it is, but I definitely hope that we start making music as impactful as our forefathers' and break free of the curse if we want future generations to remember us as fondly as we do our predecessors.

Here's Menelik Wossenachew's Fiker Ayarejim attempted as a duet on stage as a testament to the power of timeless Ethiopian music.

Do you enjoy the current state of Ethiopian music?

05/08/2026

Have we entered the age of intelligence?

I have a growing suspicion that we have.

Every era forces us to rethink what matters. The Industrial Age reshaped our relationship with machines. The Information Age reshaped our relationship with knowledge.

This next era seems different.

For the first time, intelligence itself has become something we can observe, build, collaborate with, and increasingly manage.

Yet, I still see us arguing over a question that may no longer be the most useful one: "What is intelligence?"

Maybe the better question is: "What kinds of intelligence exist, and how do we learn to work with them?"

Human intelligence and AI are only one part of the picture. But so are the remarkable forms of intelligence expressed by living organisms, ecosystems, societies, and perhaps even by our planet itself. The more we explore the universe, the harder it becomes to assume that intelligence begins and ends with us.

Our definition of intelligence is no longer an academic curiosity. It quietly determines what we choose to build, what we choose to protect, and what we fail to recognize.

I don't think there will ever be a final definition, and that's probably a good thing. A useful definition should grow as our understanding grows.

So here's the question I want to leave you with before you continue scrolling:

What does intelligence mean to you? And, how is your definition relevant to the new age we've walked into?

30/07/2026

Digital economy in Ethiopia: threat or opportunity?

Just a few years back, I remember it was extremely difficult for most businesses to sell things outside of Addis Ababa (the capital city of Ethiopia), unless they had a big enough budget to cover the intensive costs of product education, culturally adapted promotion, and consistent distribution.

Fast-forward to today, and I'm seeing a lot of different product, and even service businesses, using social media and messaging apps like Telegram Messenger to reach the most remote audiences, outsourcing their logistics to Ethiopost or more informal channels, and fully exploiting the speed and convenience of digital payments (mostly mobile transfers) to run their bustling operations.

Now, I admit that regulating such chaotic and informal businesses can be a nightmare for government, but I'm convinced that in these kinds of cases market expansion should always be prioritized over strict regulation in order to allow the country's economy to bolster beyond anything that would be possible with formalized systems.

Policy makers should focus on understanding these newly emerging markets and figure out the structures and licenses that can legalize them without stiffling their amazing growth.

What's your take on the informal economy made possible through the digital revolution in Ethiopia? Should it be suppressed? Heavily regulated? Allowed and explored?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments

28/07/2026

Music is never just background.

Though there are many theories as to where it comes from and what gave rise to it, the ubiquitous presence of rhythm and melodies in all human cultures is undeniable.

It is not always obvious, but there is music for literally every human occasion: weddings, funerals, birthdays, heartbreak, graduation, healing, etc.

Whether you're crafting a top-notch marketing campaign, creating a structure for your next event, or designing the soundtrack for an ad/film, I can assure you that you cannot do it fully without including music in there.

Especially nowadays, when the barriers to creating music have radically been reduced by the rapid emergence of AI-generated content, it is more important than ever to have a bird's-eye view of how music affects psychology.

So, my question is: if music is so important in human affairs, why are there still so many people and businesses that consider it as an afterthought?

22/07/2026

What will define the age of AI?

This morning I woke up thinking about how each age in human history has been defined by its own unique roles and value systems.

We began as hunters, gatherers, trackers and storytellers. Survival depended on reading the land better than anyone else. Strength, fertility, and superstition dominated the things that mattered most to us in that period.

Then came farmers, herders, builders and blacksmiths. Civilisation was measured in harvests, cattle size, craftsmanship, etc.

Empires needed scribes, soldiers, merchants, priests, judges and navigators. Whoever could rule and organise people at scale shaped history at that time.

The Renaissance rewarded artists, inventors and explorers. Great value came from those who had the courage and imagination to innovate, travel, and pursue excellence in their craft.

The Industrial Revolution crowned engineers, factory owners and managers. Humanity became obsessed with mechanical systems, automation, and large-scale production.

In the Information Age, the internet elevated programmers, designers, marketers and founders. Algorithms, data and information took center stage in what mattered most.

Every age has promoted a different kind of hero.

So what does the AI age ask of us?

I think we're witnessing the birth of entirely new professions.

Reality architects who design digital worlds as naturally as cities. Synthetic biographers who preserve a person's memories, voice and values long after they're gone. Human-machine translators who help humans communicate with minds that didn't evolve on Earth.Trust cartographers who map what is real in oceans of manufactured content. Meaning designers who turn infinite intelligence into lives that still feel deeply human.

My take as someone deeply involved with tech and the creative sector, is that the highest pursuit in the age of AI will be 'intelligence', not just as an attribute of complex systems like AI and humans, but as an energy source at the basis of all reality and consciousness.

What roles and values do you imagine will define the age of AI?

21/07/2026

How one sport hooked the hearts and minds of more than 3 billion people

Argentina's defeat to Spain caught a lot of people by surprise. That's football for you. The strongest team on paper doesn't always win, and perhaps that's exactly why billions of people keep coming back.

Football has become something much bigger than a game. It is one of the few things that can stop cities, empty offices, fill cafés, dominate news cycles, and spark conversations between people who would otherwise have nothing in common.

Every World Cup reminds us that attention is the world's most valuable currency. Football has mastered the art of earning it. Not by forcing people to watch, but by creating stories that people genuinely care about. Heroes rise, legends fall, underdogs rewrite history, and every match carries the possibility of the unexpected.

That is why the tournament generates tens of billions of dollars. Broadcasters, sponsors, brands, governments, creators, and media companies all compete for a place in the conversation because they know where the audience already is.

For anyone working in marketing, media, or communications, the World Cup is more than a sporting event. It is one of the greatest case studies in human attention ever created.

The final score matters for ninety minutes.

The ability of football to capture the world's imagination has lasted for generations.

16/07/2026

Is Ethiopia becoming East Africa's powerhouse?

This week, Ethiopian Electric Power-የኢትዮጵያ ኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል confirmed completion of the key infrastructure required to facilitate cross-border electricity trade across Eastern Africa, right as Ethiopia assumes leadership of the Eastern Africa Power Pool.

It's not an isolated headline. It's the latest data point in a pattern I've been tracking closely:

• Installed generation capacity has more than doubled in seven years, from 4,462 MW to 9,752 MW, powered largely by GERD

• Ethiopia now supplies roughly 10–11% of Kenya's daily electricity consumption (about 83% of everything Kenya imports) under a fresh EEU-KPLC agreement

• Talks with South Sudan are advancing, and feasibility studies for a Somalia interconnection are underway

• Electricity exports alone brought in $366 million in foreign currency in the first nine months of this fiscal year (up $138 million on the year before)

Ethiopia isn't just building power plants. It's building "infrastructure for economic integration", treating electricity the way other countries treat trade corridors or fiber optic cable.

That's a different growth thesis than "emerging market with potential". It's "regional hub being actively constructed, in real time".

For any bold entrepreneur evaluating market entry, partnerships, or investment in Ethiopia right now, it's quite a dynamic space to be in.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the most challenging aspects of doing business in an emerging market are?

09/07/2026

Can voice training and music change a kid's brain?

As I conclude my first week as a voice and music instructor for the Caliente Kids' Summer Camp at the Greek International School, this is something I think about often. It's also the reason I've missed most of my LinkedIn posts' schedule this week 😊

There are 4 age groups I work with, and each one gets 2 to 3 hours a week with me and my teaching partner Leli Lensamo, for a total of 5 weeks.

On top of music, these kids also have sessions for art, dance, pottery, football, basketball, book club, life skills, and team building. So, a lot on their plate.

The end goal? Teach them the basic pillars of music theory and how to express themselves using their voice, while preparing them for a final performance where they showcase everything they've learned to their parents.

Having done this for a while, I can tell you that working with kids is not easy or straightforward. Even a small difference in age creates gaps you have to account for in literacy, attention span, emotions, stimulation needs, and cognitive load.

But here's the extraordinary part: every kid, no matter the age, has a biological predisposition to be transformed by rhythm, melody, and harmony.

And almost counterintuitively, younger kids adapt to music and voice training faster than older ones, even though they're less equipped conceptually and skill-wise.

Musical training shares a lot of similarities with learning a new language in how it affects the brain. It literally rewires how we perceive the world and how we interact with it.

So when someone asks me if it's worth investing the time, money, and energy to help a kid learn their voice and understand music, or even themselves, my answer is always a definitive yes.

The earlier you start, the higher the chance your kid develops the brain circuitry to spontaneously catch everything tied to these innate capabilities we all carry.

Address

Addis Ababa

Telephone

+251911305281

Website

https://www.carloertola.com/

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