ADDIS ABABA – Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency said it has created more than 1.2 million job opportunities in the course of the past nine months of this fiscal year.
It has accomplished about 84 percent of its envisaged task. Though the envisaged goal was to create 1.5 million job opportunities in the sector during the specified period about 1.2 million jobs are created.
Bekele Menigistu Job Creation and Enterprises Development Deputy Executive Director at the Agency told The Ethiopian Herald that the activity on job creation is successful in light of the plan but there is a lot to be desired given the higher number of job seeker citizens.
In the government-run gigantic projects, more than 349 thousand jobs are created in the nine months of the fiscal year which is above the envisaged plan, he said.
Regarding small and medium scale enterprises development , more than 731 thousand jobs have been created in the space of nine months of the ongoing fiscal year through five main sectors like manufacturing, urban agriculture, and construction the Director stated.
He added, in different governmental and non-governmental organizations, lots of citizens have got hired.
The expansion of sectors like construction, urban agriculture, trade, among others, are the positive opportunities to wide open doors for job seekers, he said.
After the urban agriculture implementation strategy, which is more modern and which focuses on animal husbandry, poultry, market garden and other related farming, achieving turnarounds and creating more job opportunities were made possible. Pressing ahead with the task is within the realm of possibility. There is a plan to introduce urban fish farming and fishing at level two in the near future, he pointed out.
As to Bekele, the government’s limited capacity towards supplying loan and giving working places are pressing the country to create more jobs for citizens.
COVID-19 is a formidable challenge for other sectors and it is also posing the same challenge on the job creation sector. As to the Agency, working with other stakeholders, short term plans are chalked out to arrest the spread of the virus, he noted.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 24/2020
BY GENET FEKADE
