FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS FORTUNE AUDIO Fortune Careers New TRADE AFRICA New

Fortune Logo



Ministry, Mastercard Look to Bolster Leather Industry

Jun 26 , 2021

The Ministry of Trade & Industry and the Mastercard Foundation have signed an agreement to enhance the competitiveness and growth of Ethiopia's leather industry by establishing a platform for job creation and supporting existing small and medium enterprises. The initiative, being carried out through the Foundation's BRIDGES programme, will focus on employment linkage, enterprise development, competitiveness, and access to finance. The programme will also look to support small and medium enterprises supplying schools with leather bags and shoes, with an emphasis on encouraging women to join the workforce. Around 1,000 small and medium enterprises are currently engaged in the leather industry, with most producing goods for the local market. The project aims to create employment opportunities for 1,000 people during the first round of implementation.

Radar

HEFTY GREEN

Street vendors around the Shola area take a rest in the shades of the capital's newly planted trees. Upon reporting on its 10-month performance before parliament, the Agricultural Minister indicated that up to 43pc of the arable land in the country has been rendered acidic. This requires large amounts of limestone to be imported from abroad; the tight forex crunch has not allowed the Finance Ministry to fund the endeavour easily. Following the rallying call of the PM a staggering 6 billion seedl...

Read more >>

Radar

DAMP DENIMS

Residents of communal houses around the Weji area hang their clothes on the fences outside. Textile manufacturing accounts for 87pc of Ethiopia's products from industrial parks. Expulsion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to the war in the North resulted in Ethiopia being expelled from the preferential trade act. Most companies choosing to rent sheds within the industrial parks do so out of a desire to access the duty-free privileges provided for African countries. Ethiopia...

Read more >>

Radar

PRICY PLEASURES

Vendors put traditional beauty products from the Somali regional state for sale around Mexico. In November of last year, the Ministry of Finance banned imported goods under 38 categories, including cosmetics, packed foods, and furniture, from accessing letters of credit. The move resulted in the tripling of costs for cosmetic items like lipstick and nail polish. As Ethiopia ran a 14 billion dollar merchandise trade deficit last year due to import bills hiking by 26pc , a tight clampdown on forei...

Read more >>