[1] Moges Kebede was born and raised in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
After finishing high school, he worked as a freelance writer, contributing articles for private newspapers and magazines and writing plays for local theaters.
In the early 1990s Moges started writing for various citywide Addis Ababa publications.
Though there had been past attempts to publish magazines geared toward the Ethiopian community in the Twin Cities, Mestawet was the first to achieve regular publication and become widely distributed to the area's estimated 15,000 or more immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Beginning in 2004, Mestawet expanded its distribution throughout the U.S., reaching readers in Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, Columbus, and Portland.