Tesfaye began competing in foreign
road races in 2011 and placed sixth at that year's
Singelloop Utrecht. He set a
half marathon best of 60:32 minutes to place third at the
Nice Half Marathon and also took third at the
Buenos Aires Half Marathon. In 2013, a fifth-place finish at the
Jan Meda International earned him selection for Ethiopia at the
2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. On his international debut he finished 14th and helped Ethiopia to the team title. He ran in several European road races later that year but failed to place in the top three at all but the
Corrida de Langueux, where he was the winner. His 2014 was low-key, as he neither improved his bests nor had a podium finish. He was reselected for the
2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but failed to build on his previous success, ending in 26th place. He ran in two further marathons that year, taking eighth at the high-profile
Hamburg Marathon (2:10:49) and the runner-up spot and the lower level
Hengshui Lake International Marathon (2:10:00). The time moved him into ninth place on the all-time marathon lists and third among Ethiopians, after Dubai course record holder
Ayele Abshero and former world record holder
Haile Gebrselassie. He continued his winning ways at the
Hamburg Marathon that April, beating
Philemon Rono with another quick run of 2:06:58 hours. ==International competitions==