Nowadays, cities and towns are facing various social and economic problems. With the increase of urban population, cities and towns are suffering from the consequence of various waste disposals. Cities are densely populated. Due to the huge population, cities are suffering from unemployment which is a common problem to several cities.
The Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) was established by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing in order to support Ethiopia’s efforts to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of its private sector. The program seeks to increase the competitiveness and enhance the potential engagement of micro and small enterprises (MSEs), particularly for youth and women.
In 2015 alone, the program’s intervention led to creation of 18,259 new jobs. The work of the center is closely monitored and supervised by the Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency. Through this program, new and existing entrepreneurs across the country can access high quality entrepreneurship skills training and individualized Business Development Services (BDS).
The trainings target specific groups such as women, youth, and rural and low literacy entrepreneurs. Following the trainings, the existing MSEs interested in taking their business to the next level.
Thus, the Agency is established to solve problems along with the increasing urban population. The agency is launching various Safety Net Projects to curb the social and economic problems in these cities.
Solomon Assefa, Agency Deputy Director told The Ethiopian Herald that the agency has been working to solve problems within cities and escalate lives of the dwellers. It has been running a series of projects that could help curb the problems, as to him.
He also said, about 600 thousand poor and vulnerable people have benefited from the various projects run by the agency in its three-year program, particularly in 11 selected cities across the country. In this program, over 140 thousand vulnerable people are enrolled in the capital city alone.
The Director added that the project implementation started in the first year with 190 thousand people living under poverty level. Currently, the beneficiaries could save over two million Birr from their paid income. So, the project has vital importance in cultivating the saving culture of the beneficiaries, he said.
Solomon revealed that, of the total beneficiaries, 67 percent are female. The majority of the project beneficiaries are paid work and the remaining are direct support. In this regard, the project was changing the lives of the people and their attitude towards hard working, he added.
The beneficiaries from project have involved in various environmental issues like cleaning and beautifying cities, nurturing the environment, and fulfilling urban social infrastructure. The project has played critical role in ensuring food security, solving unemployment problems and cultivating the culture of hard working in the community, as to Solomon.
The beneficiaries were chosen by the committee based on their living standard. In addition to creating job opportunity, the Agency also provides training for those who want to start their own businesses, the Director elaborated.
The total capital of the project is over 450 million dollars. About 300 million dollars was aided by World Bank whereas the remaining was covered by the government. The performance of the first five years program of the project is finalized by the end of 2019, he said.
The business plan was studied by professionals from Addis Ababa University. As to the plan, over 50 thousand beneficiaries are ready to start their own businesses. Almost all of them have finished the training that could enable them to lead the business they are interested in, learnt from the business plan.
He depicted that some of the beneficiaries are taking TVET training. And after the completion of the training, they are set to operate their businesses. The Agency provides 500 dollars to the business persons. The primary goal of the project is creating sustainable income for the vulnerable people.
The Director mentioned that the project is aimed at reaching the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. To achieve this, about 11 thousand invulnerable applicants who were living a better life were dropped from the project with the help of the community. Such kind of checking and dropping will continue in advanced ways to reach to more vulnerable people.
As to Solomon, the agency in collaboration with other stakeholders provides various trainings to the beneficiaries. Among the training, financial literacy, marketing management, and communication skills are the major ones. The training practically improves skills and attitude of the users in managing business and earning profit from the available resource.
According to Solomon, absence of input supply at national level, limited stakeholder integration, instability in some part of the country, and shortage of human resources are among the challenges that the agency has been facing during implementation. Due to the fact, the Agency has utilized only 52 percent of the budget.
The Ethiopian Herald September 14, 2019
BY GETAHUN LEGESSE
