Medium & Large enterprise system

Medium & Large enterprise (MLE) system

Increasing incomes by creating more and higher paying jobs through growth of medium and large manufacturers

Addis Ababa’s rapid growth is not benefitting all. Women and youth are particularly disadvantaged. Culturally defined roles of women limit which opportunities can be pursued and the significant youth population far exceeds opportunities. Medium and large manufacturers, specifically those in low-tech, labour-intensive, light manufacturing, are key for Ethiopia’s industrialisation and continued growth. They hold promise for creating jobs and raising incomes of poor women and youth for whom manufacturing enables entry into formal employment. However, achieving growth in this sector is not without major challenges.

Critical Constraints

We identified critical constraints with the greatest potential for sustainable change and impact at scale

Inadequate human resource (HR) management skills to support firm productivity improvement and growth

Low firm performance due to an absence of performance management systems

Ineffective production management that relies on outdated processes and obsolete knowledge

Shortage of input supply from domestic sources

Manufacturing firms underinvest in sales and marketing needed to understand buyer requirements and preferences and generate awareness and demand

Intervention Focus areas

We are focused on the following intervention areas to address the critical constraints

Improvement of the HR function to increase employee performance and firm productivity through HR development programmes, performance management systems, and other tools

Development of internal and external production management capabilities through a commercial and affordable service delivery model that drives MLE investment

Strengthening domestic input supply and linkages between domestic input suppliers and manufacturers by strengthening market exchange mechanisms and developing a coordinated sourcing system for recycling raw materials

Improvement of sales and marketing capabilities of manufacturing firms through capacity building programmes and access to information on buyer requirements and preferences

System Lead: TechnoServe

Other focus systems

Labour System

Improving access to better paying wage employment

Micro & small
enterprise (mse)
system

Reducing barriers to business entry and growth and stimulating innovation

Skills
system

Improving skills development to unlock wage and self-employment opportunities