The first batch of local entrepreneurship trainers from the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) have been certified by UNCTAD under the Empretec model.

The trainers, who are lecturers at local university or local business owners, were drawn from Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP regions. The group went through an intensive weeklong evaluation by UNCTAD and Empretec international trainers from Brazil, Ghana, and Zimbabwe before receiving their certificates. 

Empretec is a Spanish acronym that brings together the word for entrepreneurs (emprendedores) and technology  (tecnología) and has been used by UNCTAD as an international programme since 1988. The programme is currently available in over 30 countries to assist local entrepreneurs and create sustainable support structures for them to build competitive small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The 20 trainers had previously undergone a training of trainers workshop provided by Empretec Ghana and  have been providing entrepreneurship training for the past year as part of a Government of Ethiopia and UNDP Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) that is being supported by the Government of Canada, which has provided 5.8 million USD.

“Canada is proud to help create jobs by promoting the growth of small businesses in Ethiopia, especially businesses owned by women,” said Christian Paradis, Canadian Minister of International Development and La Francophonie speaking about the new partnership.

In 2014, Microsoft East Africa Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding with UNDP to also support the EDP including through the provision of tools and access to mentorship. 

Micro and Small Scale Enterprises are expected to power the country's economy, and the certification of the trainers by UNCTAD will play a role to spring board the impact of the country's entrepreneurship programme, according to Mr. Asfaw Abebe, Deputy Director General of the Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency (FeMSEDA). 

Over 14,000 Ethiopian Entrepreneurs across the country have gone through an intensive entrepreneurship training so far, since the launch of the EDP  by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn back in February 2013. The programme, through the EDC, is also engaging with universities in order to target students and unleash their entrepreneurial spark as they leave school and make their way into the job market.