By Taylor Hinds
In their book, Stellar: A World Beyond Limits and How to Get There, our founders James Arbib and Tony Seba describe humanity’s transition from an extraction-based system of scarcity to a creation-based system of superabundance. They map out how the convergence of key technologies in energy, transportation, food, and labor will not only solve our most pressing challenges, like climate change and inequality, but open a new possibility space where we can meet the needs of every person on the planet at a fraction of today’s cost. It is the inevitable result of the technology disruptions already underway in these sectors.
Whether built from scratch or transformed from an existing city, a Stellar City is an urban environment optimized to harness the benefits of these disruptions rather than bolting them onto outdated infrastructure. Previously, we looked at how Black River, Jamaica, could demonstrate this vision in the Caribbean by building from the ground up in a town recently devastated by Hurricane Melissa. The potential for a Stellar City exists in every region, and currently, one of many cities showing that potential is across the globe, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Political Capital of Africa
Addis Ababa is the high-altitude capital city of Ethiopia perched over 2,300 meters above sea level that houses around 6 million people. It is a city defined by striking contrasts, serving as a major economic powerhouse for East Africa despite the country’s broader developmental challenges. While Ethiopia is classified as a low-income nation, Addis Ababa acts as a concentrated hub for wealth and investment. Urban transformation started over a decade ago with a wave of Chinese-backed skyscrapers and has accelerated recently through the Addis Ababa City Corridor project. Combined with new Smart City initiatives, these projects are quickly turning the skyline into a landscape of luxury high-rises, international hotels, and modern infrastructure.
Technologically, the city is advancing at a notable pace. In 2026, Addis Ababa has solidified its status as a regional digital hub through the liberalization of the telecommunications and banking sectors, which has attracted foreign fintech and service providers. The Ethiopian space program, with its third satellite launch scheduled for late 2026, further reflects the city's aspirations for technical modernization. Chinese backed manufacturing facilities have supported new industries and tens of thousands of jobs, and more industrial parks, data centres and factories are on the way. Socially and culturally, it is a vibrant, multilingual melting pot where over eighty ethnic groups converge creating a dynamic environment of traditional festivals, a thriving arts scene, and a growing nightlife. As the headquarters of the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, it is the primary diplomatic gateway to the region and is often referred to as the political capital of Africa.
Chinese influence runs deep in Ethiopia. Originally, it was defined by the first generation of Belt and Road Initiative projects such as the Addis Ababa to Djibouti electrified railway and the expansion of Bole International Airport. However, in 2023, the partnership was elevated to an All-Weather Strategic Partnership: China's highest diplomatic designation, signifying deep, enduring trust, consistent support, and extensive cooperation across politics, trade, energy, and security. Beijing now views Ethiopia as a model partner for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, specifically targeting emerging areas like the digital economy, e-commerce, and green industries.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Chinese President Xi Jinping - Image source Ethiopian News Agency, 2023
Addis Ababa is already creating a future for itself that most cities are only just beginning to imagine. They can certainly move beyond the constraints of the old world, but they’ll need to do so by securing local, superabundant clean energy, ensuring safe and efficient transportation, securing its food supply, and liberating human potential through artificial labor - leapfrogging over extractive technologies along the way. Transformation at this scale cannot be done with old world governing strategies, so it will also require a fundamental transformation of the city’s organizing system with the new one designed for an age of superabundance.
Stellar Energy
Addis Ababa has achieved an electricity access rate of over 90%, far outstripping the national average of about 55%. This success is supported by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a more than 5000 MW hydroelectric dam finished in 2025. While Ethiopia derives over 90% of its electricity from hydropower, the grid remains unreliable. Not only does it not reach out to rural areas, but power outages are a weekly, if not daily, occurrence in Addis and all over the country. Hydroelectric power is clean and renewable, which is great, but it is highly centralized. In order for this dam to serve more of the country the grid would have to be upgraded and significantly expanded. This would be very expensive and would lock the country into reliance on a single point of generation.
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - Image Source Prime Minister Office Ethiopia, 2024
To go Stellar, Addis can move from this centralized model to a decentralized system of solar, wind, and batteries. The Stellar Energy system utilizes stocks of SWB assets to produce superabundant electricity at near-zero marginal cost. By integrating these assets directly into the new corridors, the city can ensure total reliability while creating ample superpower. This electricity at near zero marginal cost will fuel all the new businesses, new industries and new development across the city and beyond. Solar is already the fastest growing energy source in Ethiopia, and they also have a growing solar panel manufacturing industry, backed by Chinese investment and expertise. Rural solar-powered microgrids are taking off throughout the country which already demonstrates that a decentralized SWB system is the cheapest, and best way to get the country to 100% electricity access and to add resilience, while also bypassing the high costs of traditional transmission and distribution.
There is no prosperity without electricity
Stellar Transportation
In a bold move to eliminate a massive annual fuel bill and to combat air pollution, Ethiopia became the first nation to ban the import of internal combustion engine vehicles in 2024, expanding to cover diesel and gas trucks in 2025. As a result Addis Ababa has already seen an influx of over one hundred thousand electric vehicles, often assembled locally. To go Stellar, Addis must take the additional step to turn these electric assets into an autonomous transportation system. Moving from private ownership to fleets of autonomous electric vehicles will result in safer streets and increased accessibility. These mobile batteries can even be integrated into the city grid to act as energy storage assets that enhance the resilience of the entire system.
Stellar Food
After decades of being the face of famine in international media, Ethiopia is in the midst of a radical narrative shift centered on food sovereignty. The country has pursued a historic 'wheat miracle,' claiming to have moved from a billion-dollar annual import dependency toward self-sufficiency through massive irrigation and cluster farming initiatives (though independent estimates suggest the transition remains incomplete). This momentum has carried into the Yelemat Tirufat (Bounty of the Basket) program, which has successfully boosted domestic production of eggs, milk, fish, and poultry by incentivizing smallholder backyard farming, and modernizing both animal agriculture and aquaculture. However, the lack of a reliable cold chain and the high cost of animal feed mean that nutrient-dense proteins remain unaffordable or inaccessible for many families. There is also a deep structural divide. While the national statistics show success, the agropastoral areas surrounding Addis Ababa are currently facing emergency levels of food insecurity due to recurring crop failures and a lack of reliable cold chain infrastructure.
A precision fermentation-based food system could take Addis Stellar by creating a resilient and decentralized network that decouples protein production from the vulnerabilities of traditional livestock. By using microorganisms in localized, small-scale bio-factories to produce animal-identical proteins like whey, casein, or egg whites, Ethiopia could bypass the expensive and ecologically taxing need for vast amounts of animal feed and water. This technology would essentially allow the country to brew high-quality protein in the heart of its cities or even in remote villages, creating a stable supply chain that isn't dependent on massive refrigerated trucks or large tracts of land.
The displacement of industrial livestock farming through this technology will trigger Land Liberation, freeing up to 80 percent of agricultural land currently used for grazing and feed crops. This massive surplus of land provides the space needed for Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative to meet its goal of planting 50 billion trees by 2026. By returning forest cover to 30 percent of the country, Addis Ababa will not only increase carbon sequestration to fight climate change, but it will also help restore degraded landscapes, protect the national water cycle and prevent the soil erosion that threatens the hydroelectric dams.
Stellar Labor
Addis Ababa has further solidified its status as a digital hub through the liberalization of banking and the enactment of the Startup Proclamation in July 2025. This law provides certified innovation-driven enterprises with a five-year corporate tax holiday, customs duties exemptions on imported capital goods, and the removal of the 200,000 dollar minimum capital barrier that previously blocked foreign entrepreneurs. These moves are a step in the right direction and are starting to bring new businesses to Ethiopia. To make this labor market Stellar, Addis Ababa can leverage its all weather strategic partnership with China. Chinese backed manufacturing facilities have already supported new industries and tens of thousands of jobs within and surrounding the city. With more industrial parks and factories currently in the pipeline, Addis is already seeing a trend of rapid industrial growth. The introduction of humanoid robots will simply continue and accelerate this existing momentum. China’s leadership in robotics combined with its All-Weather partnership with Ethiopia creates a clear pathway for the early adoption of these robots in manufacturing. Because China has recently prioritized Embodied AI to translate digital reasoning into tangible production, and has launched major training bases for humanoid robots to boost product development, Addis Ababa can leverage this expertise to bypass traditional labor intensive industrialization and can turn Ethiopia into a global manufacturing powerhouse. The availability of superabundant and near zero marginal cost energy provides the electricity needed for these robotic fleets to work around the clock without fatigue. This transformation enables the city to repatriate and expand heavy industries like metal smelting and chemical processing while automating all the physical drudgery.
A Stellar City
Addis Ababa has arrived at its Rupture Point. By already prioritizing access to clean electricity, transportation, and food, and investing in both its growing startup and manufacturing industries, Addis Ababa is showing that the race to the stars is a competition for the future that any city can win. Governance is on the right track, but ultimately must move beyond the 20th century focus on managing scarce inputs like land and human labor and instead adopt a new operating system designed for an age of superabundance. The path to a Stellar World is inevitable, but the speed at which Addis Ababa achieves this future depends on the foresight of its leaders to embrace these converging disruptions. By committing to this path, the city can ensure that its newfound prosperity is resilient and equitable for all of its citizens. This is the ultimate promise of a Stellar City: a world where we no longer just survive but thrive.
