Addis Ababa — Today, First Consult announced a partnership with the Ethiopian Investment Commission to implement the digitization of the labour supply and matching database for factories within seven industrial parks in Ethiopia.
The partnership between First Consult, which is implementing the BRIDGES Programme, an initiative supported by the Mastercard Foundation's Young Africa Works in Ethiopia strategy and the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), will lead to a series of job creation and employment interventions across several industrial parks (IPs) throughout the country.
The seven Industrial Parks participating in the utilization of the IP labour database include: Adama IP, Debre Berhan IP, Dire Dawa IP, Bahir Dar IP, Hawassa IP, Mekelle IP, and Kombolcha IP.
The BRIDGES Programme, which is a five-year initiative, will support the creation of close to 600,000 jobs for young people (80% women) and 15,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, the BRIDGES Programme will train 300,000 unemployed young people through industrial park job creation initiatives, and market linkage between industrial parks and MSMEs.
The creation of a digital industrial park labour database will unlock the potential for job creation within industrial parks, as well as their surrounding ecosystem. Additionally, it will promote local value addition and domestic linkage between large investors and local suppliers. The IP labour database will also be used as a major instrument for optimal, reliable, and predictable labour market information for policy makers and industrial parks.
"The industrial park labour database system has significantly supported investors and government in mapping out the labour demand and supply " said Kamila Hamza, CEO of the Hawassa Industrial Park Investors Association. "It has also further facilitated the ease of doing business through a constructed labour database system that would provide thousands of young people with the opportunity for decent and fulfilling employment.''
The expected impact of the digital IP labour database includes:
- Facilitating the matching of labour supply and demand to support an estimated 100,000 jobs within two years.
- Supporting 30,000 industrial park workers to obtain soft-skill training and awareness of the industry for better comprehension and career development planning.
The BRIDGES Programme, which is a part of the Mastercard Foundation's Young Africa Works initiative, intends to facilitate and provide technical assistance toward the development of the digital labour database. In Ethiopia, the Mastercard Foundation, through its Young Africa Works strategy, aims to create 10 million dignified and fulfilling jobs and employment opportunities for young people by 2030.
"True to its name, this initiative is truly creating a much needed bridge for tens of thousands of young people into the world of work. And it is an inspiring example of the role technology and digitization has to play in enabling work, which is something the Foundation wholeheartedly champions," said Alemayehu Konde Koira, Mastercard Foundation's Country Head, Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission will take the lead in supervising the development of the IP labour database and manage its data collection and aggregation of information from all participating industrial parks. The EIC will also work to ensure proper buy-in and utilization of the database by stakeholders and investors.
Work on the digital IP labour database will begin in mid-September 2020 and continue throughout the implementation and scale up to additional industrial parks. Full development of the database and transfer of ownership to the Ethiopian Investment Commission will be completed by 2023.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Ethiopian Investment Commission
Fekadu Deresse, Industrial Park Labor - Director
Telephone: +251 911 446 196
Email: Fekadu.Nigussie@Ethio-invest.com
Mastercard Foundation
Helen White, Strategy Lead, Program Communications
Telephone: +27 76 166 5372
Email: hwhite@mastercardfdn.org
First Consult
Ekram Mohammed, BRIDGES Programme - Employment Linkage Lead
Telephone: +251 114 401 473
Email: emohammed@firstconsultet.com
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management. For more information on the Foundation, please visit: www.mastercardfdn.org
About the Ethiopian Investment Commission
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) is an autonomous federal government institution established under Proclamation No.769/2012 Council of Ministers Regulation No.313/2014 to carry out an efficient investment administration system and to encourage foreign and domestic investments in Ethiopia through promotional, support and aftercare schemes. Functionally, the EIC operates under the direct supervision of the Ethiopian Investment Board (EIB), chaired by the Prime Minister.
Follow EIC on: http://www.investethiopia.gov.et/
https://twitter.com/EthioInvestment | https://www.facebook.com/InvestEthiopia
About First Consult
First Consult is a leading Ethiopian institution specialized in economic development in Ethiopia. With a focus on private sector, financial sector and human capital development since 2005, First Consult has built and worked with over 500 partnerships that spans the private sector, government and development community. By supporting and mobilizing strong local institutions with highly-capable individuals, the institution strives to solve the most-critical development challenges of our time. The core focus on youth development and women's economic empowerment is central to the mission of First Consult, which is to realize an inclusive and sustainable development that benefits all.
Follow First Consult on:
https://twitter.com/FirstConsultEth | https://www.facebook.com/FirstConsultEth
BRIDGES is a five-year programme that aims to create employment opportunities for young women and men by unlocking the job creation potential of industrial parks (IPs), other anchor enterprises (AEs), and their surrounding ecosystem including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). BRIDGES works to capitalize on, and scale-up its previous experiences and key learnings within the industrial sector toward creating direct employment linkages, as well as establishing sustainable market linkages between AEs and MSMEs. The BRIDGES programme is comprised of four focus areas; Employment Linkage, Enterprise Development, Enterprise Competitiveness, and Access to Finance.
Follow the BRIDGES Programme on:
https://twitter.com/BridgesEthiopia| https://www.facebook.com/BridgesEthio
