Youths are regarded as engines of development in every aspect of nation’s socioeconomic progress. As it is the median age of a people, when they start to think about self actualization and become a ready work force, youths start to look for different options that can enhance their economic life at this stage.
Countries also strive to use this advantage to transform their national aspirations by effectively utilizing this work force. Ethiopia has also prioritized creating employment to benefit youths in its entire development plan. As the country working to achieve the transformation of its economy into industrialization, it has also made several programs that can ensure benefits of citizens and countries interest of industrialization through specializing on different sectors.
For this among different specialization of industry, what the nation has been investing in and economists are suggesting is the advancement of the manufacturing industry as a key sector. For countries like Ethiopia that has large number of population with majority working force and a plenty of diversified natural resources, manufacturing sector is highly preferable.
Of course advancement in manufacturing industry has a number of benefits for country. In addition to creating employment opportunity, it significantly helps in substituting import and increasing export of the country. In order to ensure this, different policy and strategy directions have been established with their respective institutions.
Federal Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry Agency (FSMMIA) Deputy Director General, Kahsya G/Medihn said, “There are different institutions that are established for job creation, however manufacturing industries are the special ones in advancing both citizens employment opportunity and national transformation.”
He emphasized a number of opportunities dedicated under this agency, especially for peoples who want to be an entrepreneur in manufacturing sector. The sector is vast, have enormous untapped potentials and can be developed in the whole parts of the country, according to him.
According to him, the policy and strategy of this agency encourages the expansion of small and medium manufacturing initiatives at woreda and kebele level. By doing so it also aims to bring job creation, entrepreneurship opportunities at the grass root level.
Unlike the past programs and other institutions, FSMMIA does not necessarily require youths to be organized to get the agency’s support; any interested person can be beneficial in all its programs. The agency has already established incubation centre, where youths can get trainings on both technical and theoretical knowledge in their interest areas of work.
This includes different manu facturing machinery operating system training, business plan development and management trainings. Not only this, working with other financial institutions such as Development Bank of Ethiopia, Addis Micro Finance, and other stakeholders, the agency facilitates ways for the beneficiaries to get financial assistance, machinery and other equipment.
The policy also dictates administrative organs until the woreda level to provide land for production and selling areas for peoples want to work in the field of manufacturing. Kahsay also noted that the target groups of the program are identified as successful farmers, graduate youths, peoples transformed from micro enterprises, construction workers, investors working in trade and service activities, Diasporas leaving abroad and different women association. According to him, the agency requires only their business idea and support letter from aforementioned administration offices.
There are a lot of unexploited options awaiting these people, Kahsay said. “They can work in food processing, textile, skin and leather production, construction inputs and many other manufacturing areas.”
When the beneficiaries finish the training, they are expected to bring their request of machinery specification with twenty percent working capital, in order to get machinery import. According to the policy when they fulfill this, the government agency which is Development Bank will import the requested machinery for them. The twenty percent of working capital is required only to make sure the person’s capacity to continue the business, Kahsay added. FSMMA Director General Asfaw Abebe for his part noted that countries like India are working highly in this way and became successful. The incubation centre of the agency is also built in support of the government of India. He also added, “If we can effectively practice the policy, Ethiopia can be more successful.”
Ethiopia has a big potential in this aspect. “We have resources, youths ready for work, market opportunity, and also national capacity,” Asfaw added.
However, even though we have all these opportunities and policy directions, several youths are not benefiting from this programme. According to Kahsay, due to lack of support and conscious leadership at wereda and subcity level, only few youths sent to the incubation center.
Therefore, both Asfaw and Kahsay called up on administrative organs, sub cities, regional offices and woreda administrations to remove any constraints that retard the effectiveness of agencies to benefit the youth. “By doing so we can ensure the development and transformation of our national economy and we can also show the light of role of youths in our national success,” Kahsay said.