Entrepreneurship Development in Ethiopia

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2016) include: (1) six Entrepreneurship Development Centers (EDC) are operational and functional in six major cities of Ethiopia offering entrepreneurship training and business development services; (2) in those six EDCs 275 business development advisors (18% women) were trained on business diagnosis and health checks investment opportunity diagnosis business plan writing business counseling sub-contracting financial analysis and marketing issues; (3) 5 811 entrepreneurs (including 2 150 women and 62% youth under 29 years old) have been trained through 126 entrepreneurship training workshops designed for potential and existing entrepreneurs; (4) 6 102 prospective graduates from six universities were trained on entrepreneurship as a potential career option; (5) the Innovation Service Hub was launched and has started providing service to entrepreneurs with innovative ideas; and (6) greater awareness and enhanced policy dialogue on micro and small enterprise development through activities such as the Innovation for Development Breakfast Meetings workshops with the National Network of Social Innovators for Human Development and the Global Entrepreneurship Week. These results have contributed to the creation of 878 new businesses and the expansion of 1 417 existing business (52% women owned) and helped create a total of 18 259 jobs out of which 4 568 jobs were created from start-up businesses while 13 691 were created from existing businesses.