BRIDGES Program to implement digitization of labor supply and matching database for factories within seven industrial parks in Ethiopia

Factories across seven industrial parks in Ethiopia to be revolutionized through BRIDGES Program, the digitization of labor supply and demand matching, per the partnership between the Ethiopian Investment Commission and First Consult

ADDIS ABABA (Mastercard Foundation) – On 21^st September 2020, First Consult announced a partnership with the Ethiopian Investment Commission to implement the digitization of the labor supply and matching database for factories within seven industrial parks in Ethiopia.

The partnership between First Consult, which is implementing the BRIDGES Program, an initiative supported by the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works in Ethiopia strategy and the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), will lead to a series of job creation and employment interventions across several industrial parks (IPs) throughout the country.

The seven Industrial Parks (IP) participating in the utilization of the IP labor database include: Adama IP, Debre Berhan IP, Dire Dawa IP, Bahir Dar IP, Hawassa IP, Mekelle IP, and Kombolcha IP.

The BRIDGES Program, which is a five-year initiative, will support the creation of close to 600,000 jobs for young people (80% women) and 15,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, the BRIDGES Program will train 300,000 unemployed young people through industrial park job creation initiatives, and market linkage between industrial parks and MSMEs.

The creation of a digital industrial park labor database will unlock the potential for job creation within industrial parks, as well as their surrounding ecosystem. Additionally, it will promote local value addition and domestic linkage between large investors and local suppliers. The IP labor database will also be used as a major instrument for optimal, reliable, and predictable labor market information for policy makers and industrial parks.

“The industrial park labor database system has significantly supported investors and government in mapping out the labor demand and supply,” said Kamila Hamza, CEO of the Hawassa Industrial Park Investors Association. “It has also further facilitated the ease of doing business through a constructed labor database system that would provide thousands of young people with the opportunity for decent and fulfilling employment.”

The expected impact of the digital IP labor database includes:

• Facilitating the matching of labor supply and demand to support an estimated 100,000 jobs within two years.
• Supporting 30,000 industrial park workers to obtain soft-skill training and awareness of the industry for better comprehension and career development planning.

The BRIDGES Program, which is a part of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works initiative, intends to facilitate and provide technical assistance toward the development of the digital labor database. In Ethiopia, the Mastercard Foundation, through its Young Africa Works strategy, aims to create 10 million dignified and fulfilling jobs and employment opportunities for young people by 2030.

“True to its name, this initiative is truly creating a much needed bridge for tens of thousands of young people into the world of work. And it is an inspiring example of the role technology and digitization has to play in enabling work, which is something the Foundation wholeheartedly champions,” said Alemayehu Konde Koira, Mastercard Foundation’s Country Head, Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission will take the lead in supervising the development of the IP labor database and manage its data collection and aggregation of information from all participating industrial parks. The EIC will also work to ensure proper buy-in and utilization of the database by stakeholders and investors.

Work on the digital IP labor database will begin in mid-September 2020 and continue throughout the implementation and scale up to additional industrial parks. Full development of the database and transfer of ownership to the Ethiopian Investment Commission will be completed by 2023.

Source: Mastercard Foundation