Addis Ababa — With over 13 events tipped to provide plenty of inspiration for young entrepreneurs, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) was launched here yesterday.

An initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, GEW is being celebrated for the second and fifth time in Ethiopia worldwide respectively November 12 -18, 2012.

In five years, GEW has expanded to 125 countries including Ethiopia aimed at helping more people to get into business, as was learned at the official opening ceremony held at the UN/ECA Conference Centre.

The goal of GEW in Ethiopia, is believed to assist young people embrace innovation, imagination and creativity through entrepreneurship, according to event organizing committee press release.

In his message read out at the launching ceremony, Prime Minister Haile-Mariam Dessalegne indicated that developing an entrepreneurial mindset among the youth is an essential tool in the fight against poverty.

Noting that over 20 million students are in Ethiopia's school system and millions graduate every year from colleges and vocational schools, the Prime Minister stated that many graduates will be destined for unemployment without a concerted effort to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation.

According to Haile-Mariam, unemployment is still a big challenge to the nation despite the double digit economic growth registered over the last decade.