The government, with the support of development partners, is setting up a state-owned creativity hub for entrepreneurs and innovators with a seven million Birr investment.

The hub will be located inside the premises of the Federal Small & Medium Manufacturing Industry Development Agency located at Mexico in front of Wabi Shebelle Hotel.

Lying on 172Sqm of land, the creativity centre will provide a place where entrepreneurs, innovators, business people, investors and academics can easily meet, work together and transform their ideas into reality. The centre will also have a co-working area, incubation offices, auditorium, library, showroom, laboratory, a multimedia room and a café.

Expected to be completed in a half year, the hub is designed to accommodate 200 people at a time and create jobs for 20 people. The innovators will also be able to use the workshops inside the Agency.

Financed by the Italian Agency for Cooperation & Development and implemented through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the construction of the hub was started two weeks ago. The new facility does not involve major construction work as it will be built between two adjacent buildings with a connecting facility at the Agency.

The construction involves the renovation and the connection of the library and emporium of the Agency, according to Wubshet Tibebu, director of infrastructure development and cluster centres development at the Agency. The Agency was established with the aim of regulating small and medium-manufacturing enterprises and has existing facilities for textile, woodwork, leather and metal workshops.

The five-year-old firm, Benmcon Construction, is hired as a contractor for the hub development with on-site supervision to be conducted by Mulugeta Consulting Architects.

The funding came from the Upgrading of the Ethiopian Leather Products Industry Project. The major focus of the Project is to support micro and small-enterprises engaged in the manufacturing of leather footwear and leather goods operating in Addis Abeba.

"While being open to every innovation, we give priority for ideas in the leather industry," said Asfaw Abebe, director general of the Agency. "We want to focus on leather because of the abundant resources."

The hub will have a membership requirement with a minimal registration fee.