Mastercard Foundation has committed 3.2 million dollars for 11 Ethiopian small and medium enterprises to repurpose their production lines. As part of the COVID-19 Recovery & Resilience Programme, the Foundation has partnered with a consortium of the small and medium enterprises to repurpose their factories and production lines, enabling them to retain their staff. The Programme, which lasts for six months, will help the companies to repurpose and manufacture equipment like personal protective equipment (PPE), face masks and disinfectant. Enzi Shoes, FIF Trading, Gaber Textiles, Habte Garment, Kabana Leather, Kootekett Leather, Mafi, Meron Addis Ababa, Sadula Business, The Look Interiors, and Yefikir are the beneficiaries. These companies employ a total of 1,060 people. The companies were selected from the 105 SMEs that asked Mastercard Foundation for support. The companies will make PPE for healthcare workers and masks for the general public, according to Alemayehu Konde, country head of MasterCard Foundation Ethiopia. "The fund was timely and crucial to the SMEs, as they’re suffering from the economic disruption caused by the pandemic," says Alemayehu. To enable the SMEs to sell their products online via e-commerce platforms, the foundation has partnered with Kifiya Financial Technologies.
