Ethiopia has achieved an average annual export growth of 27.4% over the last decade where the manufacturing industry contributes 13% to the GDP. The industry has been growing on an annual average of 10.2% for the same period. But rural parts of the country face a host of challenges and opportunities alike which include a weak business environment, a scarcity of skilled and unskilled workers, high cost of production, and low-level infrastructure and the inability to create synergies with the education sector among other challenges.
Within the project, 3-months long skill development training for 1000 trainees will be established and 500 trained workers will be selected to be hired by Ibercotton. Besides, the others trained workers will be linked with the job market. To establish internationally recognized social and environmental standards an initial status quo analysis for BSCI and EMS based on ISO 14001 has been conducted. Corrective Action Plans (CAP) on social and environmental standards with measurable KPIs for both standards have been developed.
Cooperation has been established with Debre Birhan TVET (milestone) to ensure the long-term sustainability and broader impact of established structures. This cooperation will form a synergy between practical and theoretical education. The college will also certify each of the trainees upon successful completion of the training program.
