Addis Ababa, July 27, 2020 (FBC) – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has convened the Investment and Jobs Creation National Committee to evaluate the national jobs creation activities taken over the past year and to set direction for the year ahead.
The committee being chaired by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was launched last year comprising the Deputy Prime Minister, Presidents of regional states, the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa Mayors and two representatives from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The National Committee reported that out of the national target of creating 3 Million jobs in one year, 3,387,079 jobs have been created nationwide in agriculture, industry and services sector.
Although 330,000 jobs have been impacted by COVID 19 , the losses reported have not been as significant as had been expected.
Key contributors for the milestone achieved including enhanced private sector participation, large scale government projects, focus on enterprise development and sectoral financing support, according to Prime Minister Office.
The 2020/2021 budget year is set at creating another 3 Million jobs distributed nationally and maximizing on successes gained thus far.
Prime Minister Abiy emphasized that Ethiopia’s journey to prosperity need not be interrupted by intermittent incidents and that staying the course is key while keeping track of progress.
In setting a direction, he urged regions to put all their efforts and focus on ensuring peace and security not only through strengthening security sector but also by facilitating community stakeholders to be guardians of peace.
The premier also called up on regional governments to prioritize building strong mindsets and attitude of youth by diverting energy to volunteerism and making volunteerism a prerequisite to hiring.
He also called for enhancing automation, coordination and alignment among private and public sector initiatives and strengthening the financial sector to support youth, farmers and other categories making a living on small earnings across the nation.