Women must be empowered and developed in various fields to drive significant social change across various sectors. As Ethiopia strives for holistic prosperity, it is essential to encourage women’s participation in diverse sectors. To this end, empowering women and providing the necessary support for fostering women entrepreneurship is crucial, as it enhances their decision-making abilities, promotes economic independence, enables them to effectively lead their families, and ultimately facilitates meaningful social change.
Among the many initiatives designed to empower women through promoting creativity, the Bruh -Enat Women’s Innovative Business Idea Competition is one. Recently following this year’s Bruh -Enat Women’s Innovative Business Idea Competition-2025, 10 winning women entrepreneurs were awarded from 100,000 to 500,000 Birr for their innovative business ideas.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Labor and Skills (MoLS) State Minister Solomon Soka said that the government actively encourages women entrepreneurs as part of its commitment to ensure inclusive development across the country.
As to him, the recent Bruh-Enat Women’s Innovative Business Idea Completion-2025 Award ceremony showcased the Ministry’s commitment to creating an enabling environment to encourage women innovators and ensure prosperity by joining hands with concerned bodies.
“The MoLS, in collaboration with other government bodies and private sectors, is providing training and rewards to enhance women’s progress, thereby bringing about meaningful outcome in the country’s development,” he added. He further stated that the number of women entrepreneurs is showcasing increments, though it is not sufficient compared to the total population of the country. The10 winner women entrepreneurs, out of a total of 612 competitors, were awarded cash prizes for their innovative business ideas, ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 birr, after passing different evaluation stages and completing a ten-day intensive training in Bishoftu, Oromia State. Those ranked from 6th to 10th, each awarded 100,000 birr, which is used as a springboard to turn their business ideas into reality.
Before long, MoLS will organize similar entrepreneurs’ business ideas competition across the country regardless of age or gender differences to encourage creativity. Therefore, entrepreneurs can enjoy the program whilst gaining finance for their innovative ideas to transform to practicality.
Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), Deputy CEO and Training and Capacity Building Director, Boru Shana on his part said that Bruh -Enat Women Entrepreneurs Business Idea competition has been playing a crucial role to inspire women in the area. Women entrepreneurs bring their creative ideas to competition whilst awarding finance and gaining training to expand jobs. Those entrepreneurs have been striving to solve communities’ problems.
Kalkidan Sode, who ranked second in the competition and was awarded 400,000 Birr, is from Ari Woreda, Jinka District, South Omo Zone. According to her, there is a need for additional efforts to bring more women to the leading roles across the country. Traveling 729 kilometers to come to Addis Ababa, Kalkidan highlighted that women possess the potential to generate impactful ideas—ideas that can drive the nation’s ambition for inclusive development, provided they are given an enabling environment.
She was awarded the aforementioned cash prize for creating sanitary pads from banana peels. Her innovation addresses a critical issue that economically disadvantaged women face as the price of pads continues to rise, and many women cannot afford them. Her creative solution would address the challenges by offering an accessible and sustainable alternative and improving their quality of life.
As her area is rich in bananas, bananas with some bruise or marks cut out and will be thrown away on the environment. Then, the idea of making sanitary pads from the peels of bananas came to her mind; and started to produce women’s menstrual pads to address the challenges of the local community there. In the surrounding area, especially in Hamer rural districts women are still challenged due to lack of access to pads.
According to Kalkidan, receiving her bachelor’s degree in the Textile Industry from Bahir Dar University has inspired her to tap into her creative mind, ultimately earning her recognition and an award.
She also urged that the government, private sectors, and the people to work jointly to encourage women’s enterprises in order to realize holistic development in the country.
Kalkidan underscored that such a type of creativity would play a pivotal role in bridging hard currency exchange, producing productive women, and encouraging import substitution. As Kalkidan stated her future plan, she has an ambition of expanding her business to company level, creating jobs for many citizens, and addressing women’s challenges.
Tigest Abebe is the other winner who brought an innovative business idea to the competition, making dresses from bamboo plants, following the invitation from Enat Bank.
Ethiopia has huge bamboo resources. At the same time, there is a high rate of unemployment particularly among women. To bridge such gaps, she utilizes bamboo material to make clothes supported by modern mechanisms. Her company produces jewelry, bags, and other products from bamboo and provides them to market.
As to her, Bruh–Enat business competition plays a pivotal role in inspiring women toward creativity. Particularly, in terms of organizing adequate knowledge and skills which are essential to run a sustainable and lucrative business.
Mentioning that Bruh–Enat Business Competition has helped many women entrepreneurs turn their business ideas to practical projects by providing the necessary support, she advised potential women to present their problem-solving innovative ideas to the concerned bodies to gain adequate support and transform their ideas to life, thereby addressing challenges within their community.
Supporting the above rationale, Enat Bank Deputy President Tigest Abate said that the Bank has been supporting women, including providing low loan interest rates. Bruh–Enat Women’s Innovative Business Idea Competition has been organized for the past four consecutive years. In this regard, Enat Bank provides the necessary support in collaboration with MoLS to empower women in all fields.
Sources indicated that the MoLS, EDI, Enat Bank, and the UN Women cooperatively organized the Bruh-Enat Women’s Innovative Business Idea Competition 2025, themed “Train, Award, and Accelerate.” Bruh- Enat continues its efforts of empowering women entrepreneurs across Ethiopia by supporting technology-driven solutions in critical sectors like domestic work, service, and agriculture.
BY MESERET BEHAILU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 13 APRIL 2025
