It is to be recalled that Enkopa is a national movement to celebrate and promote Ethiopian Entrepreneurship stories, especially untold ones, to encourage all stakeholders (engineers, startupers, ecosystem builders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, educators, etc.) to build a thriving Entrepreneurship ecosystem. It is a movement with a pan-African ambition, to increase collaboration between African countries and collectively own the narrative on Entrepreneurship, to essentially re-brand the African continent.

The two Enkopa panel sessions centered around building and Digital Entrepreneurship Ecosystem and a FROG (Freelancing, Outsourcing, and Gig) Economy. H.E Muferiat Kamil, Minister at the Ministry of Labor and Skills was present along with many public officials, entrepreneurs, representatives from large corporations as well as development partners.

The FDRE Jobs Creation Commission in collaboration with the United Nation Development Program and Center for African Leadership Studies/xHub Addis recognized 17 digital high growth entrepreneurs that have graduated from the ‘Ahun Incubation Program for Digital Entrepreneurs’ today. The entrepreneurs received 5000 USD in seed funding to accelerate their growth.

The overall objective of the incubation program was to equip entrepreneurs with advanced entrepreneurship skills, business skills, marketing strategy, business planning, and etc. The goal of the program is to have at least 25% of the startups have a customer contract, commitment letter, or service procurement by the end of the 5th month after graduation. Over a period of 5 years, 40% of the startups are expected to grow their revenue double the size of the national economy growth rate.

During the 4-month incubation period, in addition to the intensive training, graduates were provided with opportunities for shadowing, networking, and experience-sharing sessions with other startups, successful entrepreneurs, and different role models in the ecosystem.

The startups are engaged in various sectors, including ICT, manufacturing, health, transport, agriculture, and art & entertainment.

At the opening session of the program, the guest of honor Mr. Turhan Saleh- UNDP Resident Representative - congratulated the start-ups and he further stated UNDP supported the implementation of the Digital Entrepreneurship Vision 2025 defined by the JCC through the initial phase of the Empower, Digitize, and Globalize Entrepreneurs for Ethiopia's Transformation (EDGET) Programme. He further indicated UNDP remains committed to working with all of the startups to support and strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Ethiopia.

Short videos were presented during the ceremony to showcase the journey startups went through in the incubation program. The certificates of completion, as well as the seed funding award, were awarded to the entrepreneurs by Her Excellency, Lelise Neme, Commissioner, Ethiopian Investment Commission, and Dr. Kalid Ahmed, Senior Program Advisor for Digital Transformation, Ministry of Innovation & Technology.

In his closing remarks, H.E Nigussu Tilahun - JCC Commissioner - stressed that JCC will continue to leverage the public-private partnership model to support digital startups in collaboration with development partners.

The FDRE Jobs Creation Commission in collaboration with the United Nation Development Program and Center for African Leadership Studies/xHub Addis recognized 17 digital high growth entrepreneurs that have graduated from the ‘Ahun Incubation Program for Digital Entrepreneurs’ today. The entrepreneurs received 5000 USD in seed funding to accelerate their growth.

The overall objective of the incubation program was to equip entrepreneurs with advanced entrepreneurship skills, business skills, marketing strategy, business planning, and etc. The goal of the program is to have at least 25% of the startups have a customer contract, commitment letter, or service procurement by the end of the 5th month after graduation. Over a period of 5 years, 40% of the startups are expected to grow their revenue double the size of the national economy growth rate.

During the 4-month incubation period, in addition to the intensive training, graduates were provided with opportunities for shadowing, networking, and experience-sharing sessions with other startups, successful entrepreneurs, and different role models in the ecosystem.

The startups are engaged in various sectors, including ICT, manufacturing, health, transport, agriculture, and art & entertainment.

At the opening session of the program, the guest of honor Mr. Turhan Saleh- UNDP Resident Representative - congratulated the start-ups and he further stated UNDP supported the implementation of the Digital Entrepreneurship Vision 2025 defined by the JCC through the initial phase of the Empower, Digitize, and Globalize Entrepreneurs for Ethiopia's Transformation (EDGET) Programme. He further indicated UNDP remains committed to working with all of the startups to support and strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Ethiopia.

Short videos were presented during the ceremony to showcase the journey startups went through in the incubation program. The certificates of completion, as well as the seed funding award, were awarded to the entrepreneurs by Her Excellency, Lelise Neme, Commissioner, Ethiopian Investment Commission, and Dr. Kalid Ahmed, Senior Program Advisor for Digital Transformation, Ministry of Innovation & Technology.

In his closing remarks, H.E Nigussu Tilahun - JCC Commissioner - stressed that JCC will continue to leverage the public-private partnership model to support digital startups in collaboration with development partners.

The FDRE Jobs Creation Commission in collaboration with the United Nation Development Program and Center for African Leadership Studies/xHub Addis recognized 17 digital high growth entrepreneurs that have graduated from the ‘Ahun Incubation Program for Digital Entrepreneurs’ today. The entrepreneurs received 5000 USD in seed funding to accelerate their growth.

The overall objective of the incubation program was to equip entrepreneurs with advanced entrepreneurship skills, business skills, marketing strategy, business planning, and etc. The goal of the program is to have at least 25% of the startups have a customer contract, commitment letter, or service procurement by the end of the 5th month after graduation. Over a period of 5 years, 40% of the startups are expected to grow their revenue double the size of the national economy growth rate.

During the 4-month incubation period, in addition to the intensive training, graduates were provided with opportunities for shadowing, networking, and experience-sharing sessions with other startups, successful entrepreneurs, and different role models in the ecosystem.

The startups are engaged in various sectors, including ICT, manufacturing, health, transport, agriculture, and art & entertainment.

At the opening session of the program, the guest of honor Mr. Turhan Saleh- UNDP Resident Representative - congratulated the start-ups and he further stated UNDP supported the implementation of the Digital Entrepreneurship Vision 2025 defined by the JCC through the initial phase of the Empower, Digitize, and Globalize Entrepreneurs for Ethiopia's Transformation (EDGET) Programme. He further indicated UNDP remains committed to working with all of the startups to support and strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Ethiopia.

Short videos were presented during the ceremony to showcase the journey startups went through in the incubation program. The certificates of completion, as well as the seed funding award, were awarded to the entrepreneurs by Her Excellency, Lelise Neme, Commissioner, Ethiopian Investment Commission, and Dr. Kalid Ahmed, Senior Program Advisor for Digital Transformation, Ministry of Innovation & Technology.

In his closing remarks, H.E Nigussu Tilahun - JCC Commissioner - stressed that JCC will continue to leverage the public-private partnership model to support digital startups in collaboration with development partners.

The workshop is organized by Pangea Trust, funded by SIDA, which seeks to create a platform to revolutionize startup and SME funding by providing an opportunity to the diaspora to become a key player in the ecosystem.

The aim of this validation workshop is to gain vital insights on the Ethiopia Diaspora mapping report. This workshop is also intended to involve the key practitioners and stakeholders to provide feedback on the relevance and the value addition of the Ethiopia diaspora mapping study report. Please register here Webinar Registration - Zoom

#MoLS Diaspora Tech Homecoming: Entrepreneur Pitch and B2B connecting event was held on January
13,2022 at Friendship Park with the presence of higher government officials. The purpose of the event
was to bring together tech professionals and investors from abroad with Ethiopia’s innovators and
disruptors.

50+ selected startups attended the program and briefed participants on their product and service.
The event was attended by representatives from private sectors providing services directly or indirectly related to FROG, incubators and accelerators, startups and entrepreneurs, diaspora in tech, Investors, developmental partners and government officials and key stakeholders who have direct and indirect roles in the digital economy of Ethiopia.

In her opening remarks, the Minister of Labor and Skills, Muferiat Kamil, emphasized that the government will continue the efforts to improve the legal framework, the ease of doing business, facilitate infrastructure development, and skills development program to encourage entrepreneurs and keep them engaged in every major activity.
The MoLS, by engaging the private sector will continue to drive programs incubating entrepreneurs for they are future job creators rather than job seekers, and they are the backbone of a digital economy.

The Ministry of Labor and Skills (formerly known as FDRE Jobs Creation Commission) in partnership with the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) organized a half-day Symposium on the FROG Economy: Accelerating the creation of millions of jobs by 2030 on Tuesday, November 30. The Symposium is one of the components of the #Enkopa #EthiopianEntrepreneurshipAtWork movement within the EDGET program.

This Symposium was aimed at providing for participants to clarify the value of the FROG community, network, and work in partnership to accelerate job creation through digital in Ethiopia and also further to foster a FROG economy with opportunities for millions of citizens.

Participants were also briefed on the task force’s overall 1- year achievements, job opportunities, and future activities planned by the FROG communities. In addition, there was a two-panel discussion by various panelists on ‘FROG Enablement Through Data Sharing’ and ‘FROG Economy’. Among the points raised during the discussion was the digital economy is a crucial mode of employment for millions of citizens and should be supported with proper policy directives.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the private sector providing services directly or indirectly related to FROG, incubators and accelerators, key stakeholders who have direct and indirect roles in the FROG economy of Ethiopia, developmental partners, and public institutes.