LocationsThe campaign was launched in April to search for high growth potential entrepreneurs. From the 755 applications received, the top seventeen entrepreneurs were selected and enrolled at xHub Addis for an intensive incubation program to help them launch their ideas into successful businesses.
UNDP joined the Ethiopia Job Creation Commission and xHub Addis to recognize and award seventeen digital startups.
The selected digital entrepreneurs went through a four-month AHUN incubation programme to help them cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and thrive in an ever-changing local and global business environment.
UNDP provided each winner with $5000 as seed funding to finance their business and take it to the next level.
The incubation programme provided training and mentorship on business model development, leadership development, finance, marketing and branding, communication and legal services. The trainees also visited entrepreneurs in similar sectors to learn and benefitted from networking and pitch sessions.
Speaking at the event, UNDP Resident Representative Turhan Saleh said, “UNDP has identified financial inclusion and building ecosystem for entrepreneurship in Ethiopia as one of its intervention areas to promote innovation and entrepreneurship targeting youth especially young female entrepreneurs.”
In 2020, UNDP supported the Jobs Commission to set up a Digital Entrepreneurship Team (DET) and supported the initiation of the programme to Empower, Digitize, and Globalize Entrepreneurs for Ethiopia’s Transformation (EDGET).
EDGET is funded by UNDP and implemented by the JCC to build on progress already made by the JCC on advancing Digital Entrepreneurship and job creation.
UNDP support to Digital Entrepreneurship corresponds to the larger UNDP’s global focus on innovation and entrepreneurship as a means for alleviating poverty and creating decent job opportunities.
