It is stated that financial institutions need to provide guarantees and loans, and lack of such boost leads to the failure of most MSMEs. Another challenge that MSMEs face is lack of financial literacy as well as access to market chains.
To alleviate the burden, the Canadian-based MasterCard Foundation has set a goal of creating job opportunities for 30 million young people by 2023 through the “Young Africa Works Strategy” launched in Africa in 2018.
The foundation states that since 2019, in Ethiopia alone, they enabled 1.27 million youths to get job opportunities by coordinating with partner organizations.
According to Samuel Yalew, Ethiopian Country Director of MasterCard Foundation, since 2019, they have been working together with 53 organizations working in tax, manufacturing, tourism and digital technology priority sectors.
According to the Ethiopian 2021 Labor Force and Migration survey, the country’s unemployment rate was eight percent as of August 2021. The national unemployment rate for women, 11.7 percent, was more than double that of men 5.0 percent. Youth unemployment, among those aged 15-29, was 7.7 percent. Urban unemployment 17.9 percent was significantly higher than rural unemployment.
The International Labor Organization assessment report in 2022 estimated that more than two million young people enter the labor market every year, yet the economy is unable to meet the demand.
