Sarah Aradi from Ethiopia landed in Dubai in 1993 as a 21-year-old with only $500 and a zest for a better life.
She clearly remembers the old Dubai with fewer people around and the strong sense of community that existed. Sarah loved to cook her authentic Ethiopian cuisine and it was when her friends loved the food that she thought of opening her first Al Habasha restaurant in 1999.
To put together the capital for her business, she started exporting VHS tapes (Video Home System) of Indian films to Ethiopia as there was a huge demand for Bollywood movies.