Unsound educational policy, curriculum, hollow bravado of African leaders, taking land and inherited properties and incorporating it as a constitutional issue, the neo- feudal reactionaries desire to consider feud as sole source of income, the land politics along with learning to be employed appeared to be deep seated cultures in the course of history in Ethiopia.
Though there are ample opportunities and blessing that advance the lives of citizens, there are still short comings in incepting innovative idea in one’s own inner being. For this reason, the nation mostly the agrarians are toiling in viscous circle of poverty.
Have there been lands, resources and human power? Yes indeed. But the failure to back producers with skill and innovative technology hinder and cracked embryo of development.
There are various universities nationwide educating hundreds of thousands in different disciplines. Nonetheless, most are wandering streets and knocking offices holding their CV seeking employment while lots are graduated from marijuana to heroin.
Yet there are very few who are self-made men; which contribute for the nation; the world and pay back their country. These divergent young men put thought into matter with intrinsic intellect and put into practice theoretical education.
As time went by willy-nilly, some began to understand and realise the naked truth is “You shall eat bread upon on your sweat”. The Vocational training and skill promotion is the means to have flexible hands and or brain.
The Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge Ethiopia 2022- a global initiative by UNICEF was closed on Friday by selecting 2 winning teams to compete at the Global Youth Challenge in New York, USA.
Hosted by The Ministry of Labour and Skills of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Generation Unlimited is a global public-private-youth partnership with a mission to skill and connects the World’s 1.8 billion young people to opportunities.
Their business ideas will be submitted to the Global Youth Challenge by the end of August. These teams were selected from the 5 finalist teams that won a cash prize of ETB 230,000 each.
During the closing ceremony, five teams pitched their business solutions, which address various social problems in the areas of animal feed production, water purification, automating, traditional Ethiopian clothing, programming/coding, and a respiratory support machine.
The business solutions of the winning teams along with other business solutions will be submitted to a global judging process. If selected, these projects will receive further funding, along with a tailored global incubation program from Generation Unlimited partners to support them.
Eventually, Coffee Lessonz and Sheba CPAD (innovators of infant respiratory aid machine), are the nominated teams at the course of the event.
All four, Dawit Tadesse, Daniel Tsegaw, Bereket Terfe and Brook Mezgebu have graduated from Addis Ababa Science and Technology University in Software Engineering. Their product, which is named Coffee Lessonz, is a learning platform that is created to teach people how to program in a fun, easy, and engaging manner.
Their platform, which is mobile and web-based, utilizes and borrows concepts heavily from psychology as well as game design to make sure users are taught the skills they are looking for in a manner that balances effectiveness with entertainment. “Before I joined the boot camp I was unable to decide on a specific business or entrepreneurial path. This boot camp made me become sure of which path to follow,” Dawit Tadesse said.
The second winning team drawn from five, Feven Tadele, Hawi Rorissa, Etagegnehu Dagnachew, Eyerusalem Gebremeskel and Hayat Solomon are Biomedical Engineers that graduated from Jimma University. Their product called Sheba CPAP will provide highly effective and low-cost breathing support for neonates with undeveloped lungs. Their company will manufacture CPAP machines and distribute them to hospitals that have neonatal intensive care units to save the lives of new born babies, the future of the country.
“We might have so many ideas we want to implement. From the boot camp, I found the ways to make different ideas practical and ways we can change those ideas into business,” Feven Tadele remarked.
Nathnael Kassahun and Adugnaw Mulu are Electric and Computer Engineers while their partner Noah Alemayehu is a Civil Engineer. They all graduated from Bahir Dar University.
Their product, which is Automated Jacquard Needle Loom Manufacturing, produces traditional cloth pattern scaled ‘Tilet’ it is digital interface software that sketches the Intended pattern. This makes the product less costly and can produce complex patterns. “We just had a start-up idea. The awareness we gained from this boot camp allowed us to think more deeply about how to realize the idea, how to identify our customers, and how to assess if there is any demand for the product,” Noah Alemayehu said.
Team four, three members of the group Getaneh Hunegnaw, Esubalew Addis and Getnet Tadie are graduates of Mechanical Engineering while their partner Temesgen Tadesse is a Doctor of Animal Science. Their product is solidified (pellet) for animal feed. The feed is prepared from agricultural by-products (wheat, rice, and teff bran) and also industrial by-products (frushica from wheat flour factory, oil cake from oil factory, and molasses from sugar industry). In addition, they use grasses for product preparation. Their product is unique because it requires slower energy during eating and digestion, suitable for feeding, and relatively effective compared to mash (powder) feed.
“Mainly, the boot camp helped me to change my mind-set. The training about mind-set and life skills helped me to change my attitude, to evaluate myself and to follow my path,” Getaneh Hunegnaw said.
Team five have members of Rediet Alemayehu and Bontu Siquare, are graduates of Textile Engineering while their partner Betselot Asfaw is a Fashion Designer. They all graduated from Bahir Dar University. Their product, which is named Bamboo Water Purifier, purifies water by using naturally extracted fibber called bamboo. It is an easy, simple, and low-cost product viable for those who have low income. The material used, bamboo, has better performance regarding water filtration. It is and has great potential in the absorption of heavy metals that are toxic to health.
They aspire to keep families healthy by providing their products to communities. “What we had before we came here is very different from what we have now. They have taught us so much about business and entrepreneurship.
At least, we now know how to solve the problems related to entrepreneurship and how to implement ideas practically. They have worked on our soft skills and mindset. I would also like to appreciate our trainers,” Betselot Asfaw commented.
Genu Youth Challenge Ethiopia 2022 has received more than 700 applications from five cities. Out of these, ten youth teams with inspiring, innovative and problem-solving business ideas have been selected to participate in an intensive boot camp and training session.
Five finalists have been selected by a selection panel to receive seed funding and mentoring. Here are brief profiles of these finalists and their business ideas.
While opening the closing ceremony Tiumegzi Fikadu, Director, Partnership and Grant management, at Ministry of Labour and Skills (MoLS), said, “As a country we face so many problems, but we also have so many opportunities. This challenge gives the youth an opportunity to create a bridge between the problems and the opportunities. Due to this reason, the Ministry of Labour and Skills always supports youth who are able to bring socially impactful and problem-solving business ideas. We consider all innovative ideas to be useful because our country is still in need of such solutions. So, we continue to host and support these kinds of challenges and platforms.”
Generation Unlimited is the world’s leading Public-Private-Youth Partnership (PPYP) transforming crises into opportunities with and for young people. The Challenge took place in over 35 countries worldwide. The Challenge calls on young innovators in Ethiopia to design solutions to accelerate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by helping the youth develop skills, offering mentoring, and providing seed funding to turn their ideas into realities. The focus of Generation Unlimited and the Youth Challenge 2022 was to skill and connect young people to entrepreneurship and social impact opportunities in their communities.
The first edition of the Youth Challenge in Ethiopia focused on 5 major cities in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa. Adama, Bahir Dar, Hawassa, and Jigjiga) and took place over a period of 10 weeks until April 8, 2022.
More than 700 groups applied to join the Genu Youth Challenge competition, of which 364 have been long listed. Following an in-depth review and interviews, 10 teams joined the boot camp program to receive lessons on ways to develop key life skills, mature key entrepreneurial skills and run a successful business and ways to be responsible citizens. They also received training on mind-set change and leadership. The Boot camp took place in Bishoftu at both The Ethiopian Management Institute and Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO) for ten consecutive days. At the end of the Boot camp program, the 10 teams pitched their business ideas and the judges selected 5 finalist teams for seed funding, further mentoring and networking.
The mentoring lasted for 4 weeks. Each mentor was assigned a specific team to work with. The mentoring sessions lasted 1 to 2 hours every week. The contents included business plan implementation, cash flow plan, progress update and problem-solving, seed fund disbursement plan, marketing plan, organizational management plan, and leadership.
The Challenge in Ethiopia is being hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Skills, supported by UNICEF, UNDP, ILO, UNFPA, Resident Coordinator Office (RCO), and MasterCard Foundation and is being implemented by First Consult.
BY LAKACHEW ATINAFU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 15 APRIL 2022
