By: Will Davison, the Chrisitan Science Monitor

Among the young Ethiopian entrepreneurs idly sipping coffee near their shops in Addis Ababa, Tariku Temesgen stands out as the joker.

Wearing scarlet dungarees and aviator shades, he draws laughter by describing his routine as a ​merchant ​who has nothing to sell. “I just stand here all day staring at my empty shop,” he says, leaning against the wall of his would-be electronics repair ​store.

Like many of the shopkeepers in this complex​, Mr. Tariku doesn\’t pay rent, courtesy of a government program to create jobs for returning migrants. But the nearby construction of a $475 million railway has killed traffic, ​leaving rows of merchandise ​in shops waiting for customers ​who do not come. ​ So even though Tariku has attempted unsuccessfully to migrate through Sudan five times over the past six years, he is thinking – yet again – about heading abroad to look for work.​ Read more