The government of Korea’s International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ethiopia have agreed to support the creation of quality jobs in Ethiopia.

The agreement, signed between Dong Ho Kim Country Director for KOICA and Turhan Saleh UNDP Resident Representative in April 2020, brings 3.3 million USD from KOICA and a 1m contribution from UNDP to launch a five-year project focusing on supporting ICT-based business start-ups and SMEs to create quality jobs in Ethiopia.

Urban unemployment in Ethiopia is currently 19% and 25% amongst Ethiopian youth.  The project will contribute to the transformation of the economy through promoting innovation and tech-based start-ups and SMEs that would enhance job creation for the growing youth population in Ethiopia. The project will also facilitate loan guarantee scheme for ICT based start-ups and SMEs to address their financial needs.

UNDP brings to this partnership its expertise around promoting sustainable development, eradication of poverty and advancement of women in Ethiopia as well as numerous other countries.

In the past UNDP had established trust and partnerships with SMEs in Ethiopia through other interventions. This includes promoting SME engagement in rural energy technologies, as well as through Ethiopia’s entrepreneurship development programme launched in 2013 in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, which has trained over 90,000 entrepreneurs and 32,000 SMEs in the country.