inception phase report phase... · government prioritized the t&g sector with the industrial...
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UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION
INCEPTION PHASE REPORT
CAPACITY-BUILDING AND JOB
CREATION FOR YOUTH AND WOMEN IN
THE TEXTILE SECTOR IN MIGRATION
PRONE AREAS OF ETHIOPIA
Davide Chinigò, international consultant
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Table of Contents
List of acronyms ................................................................................................................ 5
List of tables ....................................................................................................................... 7
List of maps ....................................................................................................................... 7
Executive summary ........................................................................................................... 8
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 20
1.1. Project objectives ..............................................................................................................21
1.2. Project background and rationale ...................................................................................21
1.3. Methodology ......................................................................................................................25
1.3.1. Identification of priority sectors and areas of intervention ..........................................25 1.3.2. Private Public Partnership (PPP) approach ..................................................................27 1.3.3. Methods of data collection and analysis for the socio-economic assessment ..............29
1.4. Project priority areas ........................................................................................................30
1.5. Project priority sector targets ..........................................................................................33
1.5. Project beneficiaries ..........................................................................................................35
2. The Textile and Garment Industry in Ethiopia ....................................................... 38
2.1. The T&G industry and employment creation in Ethiopia ............................................41
2.2. The T&G and exports in Ethiopia ...................................................................................44
2.3. Gap analysis of the T&G industry in Ethiopia ...............................................................49
2.3.1. Gaps in technical and soft skills ..................................................................................49 2.3.2. Gaps in creating an enabling environment ...................................................................52
3. The Textile and Garment Industry in Tigray .......................................................... 57
3.1. The Manufacturing Industry in Tigray ..........................................................................58
3.2. The Textile & Garment Industry in Tigray ....................................................................59
3.3. The Mekelle Industrial Park (MIP) .................................................................................61
3.3.1. Challenges facing Industrial Parks ..............................................................................62
3.4. Socio-economic statistics ...................................................................................................64
3.4.1. Tigray Regional State statistics ....................................................................................66 3.4.2. Mekelle Municipality statistics ....................................................................................69 3.4.3. Socio-economic assessment of six wereda surrounding Mekelle municipality ...........72
3.4.3.1. Degua Temben ................................................................................................................... 73 3.4.3.2. Hintallo Wajirat .................................................................................................................. 77 3.4.3.3. Enderta ............................................................................................................................... 80 3.4.3.4. Saharti Samre ..................................................................................................................... 82 3.4.3.5. Wukro Town ...................................................................................................................... 86 3.4.3.6. Kilte Awellalo .................................................................................................................... 89
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3.5. In-depth interviews with workers and trainees ..............................................................92
3.5.1. Thematic analysis ........................................................................................................92 3.5.2. Women empowerment and gender dynamics in the textile industry ...........................97
4. Project Action Plan ................................................................................................... 101
4.1. Site selection for the Centre of Excellence ....................................................................103
4.1.1. Mekelle Garment College Profile ..............................................................................103 4.1.2. The college current capacity ......................................................................................104 4.3.3. Information about machineries ..................................................................................105 4.1.4. Master plan of the available workshops.....................................................................107
4.2. First Public-Private Roundtable discussion ..................................................................109
4.3. Second Public-Private Roundtable discussion ..............................................................111
4.3.1. Technical skills for basic operators ...........................................................................113 4.3.2. Technical skills for middle management ...................................................................115 4.3.3. Training for managers ................................................................................................117 4.3.4. Soft skills training ......................................................................................................119
4.4. Profile of the stakeholders engaged to establish the Centre of Excellence .................123
4.4.1. ETIDI .........................................................................................................................124 4.4.2. H&M ..........................................................................................................................125 4.4.3. DBL ...........................................................................................................................126 4.4.4. Strathmore ..................................................................................................................129 4.4.5. Velocity ......................................................................................................................130 4.4.6. MAA garment ............................................................................................................131 4.4.7. Ethiopian Institute of Science and Technology .........................................................133 4.4.8. Local Government Offices .........................................................................................133 4.4.9. Coordination with Development Stakeholders ..........................................................134
4.4.9.1. Towards a collaboration with GIZ ................................................................................... 135
4.5. Recommendations to formulating a one-year training timeline .................................137
4.5.1. Key findings ...............................................................................................................137 4.5.2. Recommendations on Coordination and a PPPs ........................................................138 4.5.3. Technical skill trainings .............................................................................................140 4.5.4. Soft skill trainings ......................................................................................................143
4.5.4.1. Non-conventional soft skill training activities .................................................................. 144
4.6. Preliminary list of equipment and machineries for the Centre of Excellence ...........145
4.7. Project Logical Framework............................................................................................149
5. References .................................................................................................................. 150
Annex 1. In-depth interviews transcripts ................................................................... 152
Annex 2. Training Manual on Technical Skills for Basic Operators ....................... 169
Annex 3. Training Manual on Middle Management ................................................. 169
Annex 4. Training Manual for Managers ................................................................... 169
Annex 5. Training Manual on Soft Skills.................................................................... 169
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List of acronyms
AGOA: African Growth and Opportunity Act
AICS: Italian Agency for Development Cooperation
BOLSA: Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs
Bureau T&I: Bureau of Trade, Industry and Urban Development
CAMM: Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility
COMESA: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
CSA: Central Statistical Agency
DFID: UK Department for International Development
DGCS: Direzione Generale per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo
EAC: East African Community
EBA: Everything But Arms
EIT: Ethiopian Institute of Technology
EP: Enterprise Partners
ETIDI: Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute
ETGAMA: Ethiopia Textile and Garment Manufacturer's Association
EU: European Union
EUR: euros
FDI: Foreign Direct Investments
GIZ: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
GoE: Government of Ethiopia
GTP I: Growth and Transformation Plan
GTP II: Growth and Transformation Plan II
IDP: Internally Displaced Persons
IDZ: Industrial Development Zones
ILO: International Labour Organization
IP: Industrial Park
IPDC: Mekelle Industrial Park Development Corporation
ITC: International Trade Centre
JICA: Japanese Development Cooperation
MAECI: Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale
MGC: Mekelle Garment College
MoI: Ethiopian Ministry of Industry
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MSE: Micro and Small Scale Enterprises
NGO: Non-Governmental Organisations
OS: Occupational Standard
PCP: Programme for Country Partnership
PPP: Public Private Partnership
RMG: Ready Made Garment
SADC: South African Development Community
SINCE: Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern & Central Ethiopia
SMMIDA: Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency
SNNPR: Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Regions
T&G: Textile and Garment
TOT: Training of Trainers
TVET: Technical and Vocational Training
UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organization
UNOCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
USD: US dollars
VIS: Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo
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List of tables
Table 1. Employees in the T&G sector, 2013-2016, Central Statistical Agency
Table 2. Ratio of cost of labour to gross value of production by industrial group - public
and private
Table 3. Wage rate distribution in garment
Table 4. T&G export in Ethiopia, 2001-2014, US$ thousands, ITC (2016)
Table 5. Destination of garment export in Ethiopia
Table 6. Cost of energy in Ethiopia
Table 7. Unemployment figures in Tigray disaggregated by education level and Zone
administration (2016-17)
Table 8. Provisional Unemployment figures for 2017-18
Table 9. Trainings for prospective workers in the Mekelle Industrial Park (MIP)
Table 10. Unemployment figures in Mekelle Municipality disaggregated by education
level and Sub City (2016-17)
Table 11. Trainees from Mekelle Municipality to be employed in Mekelle Industrial Park
(Until October 2017)
Table 12. Mekelle Returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
List of maps
Map 1. Tigray National Regional State
Map 2. Wereda targeted by socio-economic assessment around Mekelle
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Executive summary
The UNIDO project “Capacity-building and job creation for youth and women in the
textile sector in migration prone areas of Ethiopia” is funded by the Italian Agency for
Development Cooperation (AICS) in Ethiopia. The project is implemented over three
years starting from September 2017, has a total budget of 2.5 million EUR, and is run in
close coordination with the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry (MoI).
As a follow up to the assessment conducted for the Stemming Irregular Migration in
Northern & Central Ethiopia (SINCE) project inception phase, the present project has
been developed to tackle one of the main roots behind irregular migration and
displacement, i.e. youth unemployment and, more broadly, lagging economic
opportunities. The project aims to support the Government of the FDR of Ethiopia (GoE)
in creating decent and productive job opportunities for young women and men through
the strategic development of the Textile and Garment (T&G) sector. Expanding the T&G
sector is done by supporting capacity-building initiatives in the textile industry through a
Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach.
The project responds to a specific official request from the Ethiopian MoI to support the
sector and is articulated in line with the Valletta Action Plan under the chapter
development benefits of migration, which addresses the root causes of irregular migration
and forced displacement. Intervention focuses on Tigray National Regional States, which
is a region where the T&G industry is in rapid expansion, and where significant fluxes of
origin and transit of migrants currently takes place. The project targets two priority areas.
The first is the creation of employment opportunities and revenue-generating activities
through strengthening the professional and soft skills of young people, with a particular
focus on women, as well as broader institutional capacities in Tigray. The second is to
facilitate responsible private investment in Africa agro-industries and boost intra-African
trade and exports of products through increased financial activities.
The project general objective is to contribute to the creation of decent and productive job
opportunities for young people, and women particularly, in the context of the current
expansion of the T&G industry in Tigray. Intervention focuses on Tigray National
Regional States, which is a region where the T&G industry is in rapid expansion, and
where significant fluxes of origin and transit of migrants currently takes place. In this
context, the specific objective is to support the GoE to establish productive and effective
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training capacity at various levels of the textile and garment industry – including
technical skills for basic operators and middle management, managers, as well as soft
skills and institutional capacity. Ultimately, the project aims to support the establishment
a Centre of Excellence for Skill Development in Mekelle, Tigray. The rationale of the
project is to design and develop capacity building and training initiatives through a PPPs
approach, and initially starting from the demands of the private sector. This approach is
meant to enable the strategic engagement of key industrial actors currently in the process
of operating in the region with relevant local, regional, and national public institutions. In
turn this is expected to maximise the effectiveness of technical, managerial and
institutional capacities of the T&G industry.
This report is divided in three parts. The first introduces key aspects of the projects, its
objectives, and discusses the methodology that has been employed to select priority areas
and target sectors. The second part of the report discusses the T&G industry in Ethiopia
and then provides a specific focus on Tigray and the area of Mekelle. This second part
draws on a review of the existing literature as well as on a socio-economic assessment
conducted during the project’s inception phase based on qualitative methods of research
analysis and data collection. The third part of the report outlines the project’s Action Plan
and provides recommendation for implementation.
In recent years the textile and garment sector has proved a vital entry point to creating
new employment opportunities throughout the developing world. Beyond the economic
growth T&G manufacturing brings to developed countries, which most often facilitate the
highest levels of the value chain, it also introduces significant opportunities to developing
countries. As a result, the T&G sector is quickly becoming a significant vehicle to
alleviate poverty through a model of export-oriented economic development. More often
T&G serves as an important mechanism to introduce state of the art technologies. A
trillion-dollar industry, the T&G sector brings new employment opportunities to millions
living in developing countries throughout the world. Providing a foundation for
industrialization, the T&G sector is helping to transform much of the global South. While
Europe remains the largest market for consumers, averaging around 350 billion US
dollars, the greatest amount of exports continue to be produced in China and India (Berhe
et al., 2017).
Through a strategy of converting its largely agricultural economy into manufacturing,
Ethiopia predicts its will reach middle-income status by 2025. In 2002, the Ethiopian
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government prioritized the T&G sector with the Industrial Development Strategy through
an emphasis on labour and exports. As a result, the sector is becoming one of country’s
foremost employers, offering new opportunities for unskilled, and often women, workers
throughout Ethiopia, particularly in the region of Tigray. In 2015, the Ethiopian
government released the Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTPII) setting out strategic
goals to develop manufacturing industries.
Among the aims of the GTPII is to further develop globally linked small-scale
manufacturing, a target that proves central in order to meet the 2025 objective. As a
result, Ethiopia is soon transforming into a significant production and sourcing site for
global T&G buyers worldwide. After the implementation of the GTPII the local
government in Tigray is working to attract new foreign direct investment into the T&G
sector. The region now boasts five vertically integrated T&G factories, offering
thousands of new employment opportunities.
Yet in spite of the T&G sector’s promise current operations in Ethiopia have proved
underproductive and fail to be truly competitive in the global arena. In addition, the
influx of foreign capital seeking cheap labour often undermines local working conditions.
As global trends demonstrate emerging economies are vulnerable to undermining basic
working rights in lieu of attracting foreign investment. While this suggests that cost is the
only factor determining competitiveness on an international scale these trade-offs are not
guaranteed, as investors and customers worldwide take into account working conditions
more and more. Working conditions and living wages, alongside productivity and
competitiveness are becoming important considerations not only for consumers, but also
foreign investors. Creating the conditions for gainful employment and good work
environments boosts productivity and competitiveness. Yet, in Ethiopia important
questions remain about labour. According to Berhe et al. (2017) the majority of
employees working in the textile and garment industry are not unionized, while more
broadly a standard minimum wage has yet to be established. While workers cite
unfavorable conditions to trade unions, management is often in support of unionization as
it boasts productivity and competitiveness.
In Tigray a range of problems undermines further development in the T&G sector.
Specifically labour is a persistent challenge – as the majority of the work force is
equipped with low technical and soft skills. More broadly local institutions have proved
an obstacle as a failure in communication leads to an inability to properly implement
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polices of the central government. In addition, supporting institutions fail to properly
provide relevant market, product and technology related data in a timely manner. Beyond
institutional failures, the shortage of raw materials and necessary replacement parts for
machinery that take a long time to replace is a consistent challenge. Adequate water
supply, transport and facilities are also factors. Lastly, as labour proves inadequately
skilled appropriate training facilitates are deficient throughout the region. As a result it is
necessary to develop training at different levels including technical and soft skills for
basic operators, technical skills for middle management and training for top management.
Accordingly, in order to adequately address the challenges government cooperation will
be necessary at both the regional and central levels.
The T&G sector holds great transformative potential for Ethiopia in order to meet its goal
to reach middle-income status by 2025. Opening up new employment opportunities
across a range of skilled and unskilled labour, the development of the T&G sector holds
the ability to help address economic disparities among Ethiopian society. Yet, economic
and social challenges stand in the way of unlocking the sectors full potential that require
the cooperation of both regional and federal governments in order to overcome.
The geostrategic situation of Ethiopia makes it a source of, a destination for, and a transit
region for migration and refugee flows, mostly within the region but also to the Gulf
countries and Middle East (Eastern Route), Europe (Northern route) and South Africa
(Southern route), as well as of internal displacement. Ethiopia is increasingly becoming a
transit country for mixed migration flows, mainly from Eritrea and Somalia using
primarily the Northern route, as well as a country of departure for migrants mainly using
the Eastern route and to a lesser extent the Southern and Northern routes.
While the country has experienced double-digit economic growth rates during the last
decade, the lack of economic opportunities, as well as of participation in economic life,
are still very high, adding to a sense of disenfranchisement and constituting an important
push factor for displacement.
Within this context, the Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale
and Direzione Generale per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (MAECI-DGCS) developed
the project Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern and Central Ethiopia (SINCE) with
support from the EU to create employment opportunities for young people and women in
an effort to better understand the reasons behind recent migration trends. As a follow up
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to SINCE, the Embassy of Italy in Addis Ababa requested UNIDO prepare a technical
assistance project proposal to contribute to the reduction of irregular migration from
Northern and Central Ethiopia by creating greater economic and employment
opportunities for young women and men through the development of high potential
sectors such as agro-industries and related (e.g. textile, leather, metal working, edible oil,
etc.). This is the background against which this project was formulated.
In addition, the State Minister of Industry H.E. Bogale Felleke, in charge of the leather
and textile sectors, officially requested UNIDO to provide technical assistance in
improving the institutional capacity of both the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry (MoI) and
the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), in order to meet the
private sector requirements, facilitate the T&G sector growth, and play a relevant role in
creating skilled labour force.
The T&G sector was selected for numerous reasons. First the T&G sector offers
considerable potential for employment creation and contribution to national GDP. Second
the T&G sector presents significant opportunities for income and employment
multipliers. Third the T&G sector provides significant opportunities for economic
integration of the national economy and in terms of creation of forward and backward
linkages.
In addition to identifying the T&G sector as a main priority sector, the region of Tigray –
and more specifically the area around Mekelle – was identified as the priority area of
intervention. However, while the focus is concentrated on Tigray the project is expected
to produce broader national repercussions, both in terms of capacity building to Federal
institutions such as the MoI and ETIDI, as well as potentially providing a blueprint to
implement skill development initiatives elsewhere in the country.
In recent years the T&G sector in Ethiopia has experienced a remarkable expansion and
managed to attract the attention of key foreign investors and buyers, such as ITACA,
H&M, G&T, Primark, Phillips Van Heusen, Tschibo, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, VF
Corporation, and Inditex. In 2014, 36 T&G foreign direct investments projects were
licensed, with an average capital investment of USD 140 million. These projects employ
an estimated average of 2,500 people each.
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Current figures show that over 136 T&G manufacturing companies, ranging from
medium to large scale, are currently involved at different levels in the segments of
ginning, spinning, weaving, finishing and garment. In addition, a considerable number of
start-ups and micro enterprises are involved in the sector at different levels and both in
‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ apparel production.
T&G is among the most labour intensive sectors within industry and manufacturing. In
providing considerable employment opportunities worldwide – especially to young
women – the T&G sector is characterized by rapid market-driven changes as well as
geographically dispersed production. With a rapidly growing young population and an
increasing trend towards urbanization, Ethiopia offers ideal conditions for a rapid
development of the T&G sector when it comes to labour supply. As noted earlier,
employment creation for youth and women is one the top priorities of the GoE
development strategy.
At the same time, in Ethiopia the cost of labour is lower than in many other T&G
producing countries. However, as productivity of labour remains low, this comparative
advantage does not automatically translate into a competitive advantage for the sector.
Nonetheless, in the coming years the growth of the T&G sector driven by FDIs is
expected to generate considerable job opportunities for women and youth that are either
unemployed, or employed in the informal sector.
The sector has also the potential to attract a large workforce from rural areas previously
engaged in smallholding farming. The sector is believed to offer additional advantages
when it comes to rapid employment creation. These include the capacity of state
bureaucracy to mobilize people up to the micro level, the potential for creating other
labour-intensive spin-off industries – such as accessories and chemicals – as well as
upstream linkages to cotton production for which Ethiopia has tremendous potential.
The T&G industry holds significant potential for rapid employment creation in the
coming few years. Nonetheless, in order to uncap such potential, specific challenges need
to be addressed. Challenges pertaining to employment creation can be divided in two
main groups:
Gaps in technical and soft skills
Gaps in creating an enabling environment
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The gaps in technical and soft skills present numerous challenges, including:
Lack of adequate technical and vocational training (TVET) capacity
Lack of sufficient on the job training
High turnover and absenteeism
Lack of middle management capacity and supervisors
Resistance to change and lack of soft skills
Lack of a market-driven approach
Problems in fulfilling adequate quality standards
The gaps in creating an enabling environment present numerous challenges, including:
Sourcing of inputs
Lack of integration and limits to value addition
Institutional capacity and sector coordination
Access to finance
Upgrading machineries
Limited awareness on how to exploit preferential export markets
Trade promotion capacity
Tackling these challenges is fundamental to uncap the potential of the sector to create
sustainable and productive job opportunities. A key finding of socio-economic
assessment include the following:
The companies surveyed and engaged in the discussion to establish the Centre of
Excellence plan to hire 20,000+ workers in the next three years, and additional
10,000+ to achieve full capacity. These are conservative figures that do not
account for small and medium textile companies, as well as major industrial
operators already in the area such as ITACA/Calzedonia.
While the number of job seekers with a profile suitable for the textile industry
(e.g. 18-25 years old, and Grade 9 or above) in Tigray is significant (~140,000),
only about 5% of these can be sourced from Mekelle Municipality (~7,000). By
implication, it is expected that the expansion of the T&G will be associated with
significant fluxes of migrant workers from elsewhere in the region.
A significant number of workers are potentially available in the six wereda
immediately bordering with Mekelle Municipality (~13,000).
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Existing training institutions (e.g. TVETs) are not able to meet the existing
demand for trainings from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective.
Labour migration raises deeper questions about the transition to industrial life,
which entails economic, social, and cultural transformations that need to be taken
into consideration when developing trainings, particularly on soft skills.
Labour migration is complex and not unidirectional from rural to urban areas.
Peri-urban sites where the industry put its roots become target of multiple fluxes
from both the inner city and rural areas. In addition, at least in the short-term,
labour migration is never permanent, and rather is characterized by frequent
commuting and movements back and forth to the place of origin.
Over 85% of the employees in the textile industry are women with a low socio-
economic profile, and eligible for a minimal entry salary. Industrial work is
unlikely to enfranchise young women from existing social hierarchies within the
household and the broader communities of origin.
While working, women are still expected to perform the same domestic tasks in
the household. This and frequent social and cultural obligations in the community
explain high rates of turnover and absenteeism. A particular concern is childcare
for migrant workers that have no family network in the area where they relocate.
The textile industry and industrialization are regarded as important aspects of the
country’s future, and have attached positive notions of progress, modernity and
development. Industrial jobs have a higher reputation than jobs in other sectors,
even when these pay a better salary. The textile industry is expected to create new
jobs and tackle the problem of youth unemployment.
The fact that the textile industry offers initial low salaries has several
implications. Regardless of how low these salaries are still very important in
consideration of the substantial lack of alternatives that many youth face today,
and of households’ reproductive strategies. Particularly, for those households with
an agriculture background an additional cash income often constitutes an
important risk diversification strategy.
Connected to the question of low initial salaries, work in the textile industry is
usually regarded as a short-term strategy. Young workers plan to get enough skills
and experience to move on to a better life.
In order to better facilitate job growth in the T&G sector job trainings through the
establishment of a Centre of Excellence will be an important resource. The Mekelle
Garment College (MGC) has been identified the ideal institution where to ground the
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Centre of Excellence. The College boasts adequate equipment and facilities. MGC has a
range of equipment suitable to produce a variety of products, with satisfactory facilities to
host soft-skill trainings.
The planning, design and vision for the Centre of Excellence was conceived at two
Public-Private Roundtables held in conjunction with both public and private industry
stakeholders. The first Public-Private Roundtable on skill development in the Tigray
Textile Sector took place in Mekelle on December 12th 2018. The roundtable brought
together major industrial partners and public institutions. The industrial partners that
attended are the following: H&M, Velocity, DBL, Strathmore Trading, and MAA
garment. Representatives of public institutions included the ETIDI, the TVET Tigray
bureau, the Mekelle Garment College, the Industrial Park Development Corporation
(IPDC), and the Ethiopian Institute of Technology (EIT) of Mekelle University. The
roundtable discussion was organized around two main aspects of skill development in the
T&G industry: soft skills and technical skills.
As far as soft skills are concerned all the stakeholders agreed that this is by far a main
challenge hindering the productivity of the industry. The discussion highlighted that there
is a need for skill development initiatives that acquaint workers with the industrial
culture, including how to behave on a factory setting, time management, industrial
psychology, and health & safety regulations. It was stressed that soft skill initiatives must
involve not only basic operators but also line supervisors, middle management, as well as
managers. In addition, it was recognised that soft skill development cannot be dealt with
in isolation from the social and cultural background of the workers. The discussion about
technical skill development was equally productive. The general principle that was
agreed upon was about a dual step training, part to be conducted in the training centre and
part directly in the factory.
The second technical roundtable was held in Mekelle on January 23rd 2018. The
roundtable brought together major industrial partners, along with representatives of local
government offices, as well as of the national ETIDI and the Technology Institute of
Mekelle University. The discussion was organized along 4 main topics: technical skill
development for basic operators, technical skill development for middle management,
skill development for managers, and soft skill development. In line with the previous
roundtable, a general consensus emerged about thinking at the Centre of Excellence not
as a static training centre, but rather as a dynamic, flexible, and adaptable platform to
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provide a wide set of trainings depending on the demand of the industry and the market
of the time. The Centre is expected to work as a platform hosting the most innovative
ideas about how better to perform trainings at a certain point of maturity of the industry
and the job market in the area of Mekelle, and in Ethiopia more broadly. The structure of
the job market will change over time, and the Centre of Excellence will have to be able to
adapt accordingly by providing trainings that are effective to meet a rapid pattern of
change. While it was a general understanding that the current need for basic operators and
middle management staff is the most pressing, the nature of the industry is going to
change as more people get trained, and increasing levels of specialisation and
diversification are achieved. For these reasons, it was general understanding of the
stakeholders involved that a modular approach to the project means that the contents
discussed for each training curriculum will constitute only the initial basis of what will be
offered at the Centre of Excellence.
In line with the project’s PPP methodology, during the inception phase the UNIDO staff
engaged with a number of stakeholders at different levels. In addition to the Italian
Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Ethiopia, these include:
Governmental institutions at Federal and Local level: Ministry of Industry,
Ethiopia Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), Tigray Trade and
Industry Bureau, Tigray TVET Bureau, Tigray Small and Medium Manufacturing
Industry Development Agency (SMMIDA), Mekelle BOLSA, Mekelle Garment
College, Mekelle Urban Job Creation and Food Security Bureau, Ethiopian
Institute of Science and Technology of Mekelle University.
Private sector actors: Ethiopia Textile and Garment Manufacturer's Association
(ETGAMA), Mekelle Industrial Park Development Corporation (IPDC), H&M,
Velocity, DBL, Strathmore Trading PLC, MAA Garment, Calzedonia, Decathlon,
Enterprise Partners (EP).
International Organizations and NGOs: European Union delegation, German
development cooperation (GIZ), International Labour Organization (ILO), UK
development cooperation (DFID), Japanese development cooperation (JICA),
Italian Trade Agency, Don Bosco, Rainbow4Children, Volontariato
Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS).
The Ethiopia Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI) is a key partner in
envisioning and developing the Centre of Excellence in Mekelle. The mission and
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expertise of the Institute makes it the natural and ideal governmental partner to
implement the UNIDO project, together and in close collaboration with the Ministry of
Industry. In particular, the expertise and the national reach of ETIDI are critically
important to develop a Centre of Excellence that become a Best Practice to implement
elsewhere in the country. ETIDI staff contributed substantially to the discussion during
the two public-private roundtables in Mekelle, and was instrumental in providing the
project with a soft skill training manual. At a broader level, the Director of the Institute,
Ato Seleshi Lemma, played an invaluable advisory role during periodical meetings that
took place at the Ministry of Industry, at the presence of his Excellency Ato Bogale
Felleke.
H&M has been instrumental in developing and formulating the UNIDO project from the
very beginning. H&M offered support to coordinate training activities at different levels,
and its staff played a very important role during the two roundtables organized in
December 2017 and January 2018. DBL has been instrumental to the inception phase of
the UNIDO project in a number of regards. The company led the development of a
training curriculum for middle management and the staff made a substantial contribution
to both roundtable discussions. Although Strathmore started to establish its presence in
Mekelle during the inception phase of the project, the company committed to participate
to the two roundtables organized in December and January. Strathmore provided a
substantial contribution to the formulation of the technical skills for basic operators
manual. MAA garment has been extremely important to the inception phase of the
UNIDO project. Together with Strathmore Trading the company led the development of a
training curriculum for technical skills for basic operators, and the staff made a
substantial contribution to both roundtable discussions. Velocity expressed a substantial
interest in the UNIDO project in relation to developing the soft skill training component.
The Ethiopian Institute of Science and Technology was initially contacted to discuss
broader issues about potential synergies between Mekelle University and the Centre of
Excellence. After some very productive conversation, staff members were invited to
attend the roundtable discussions. The Institute developed a detailed curriculum for the
training of managers that was very well received by the other public and private
stakeholders. Local government offices at both Regional and Municipal levels
contributed significantly to the discussion during the two roundtables.
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Training manuals to be employed in the Centre of Excellence on Technical Skills for
Basic Operators, Middle Management, Managers, and Soft Skills have been included to
this report as attachments. The Action Plan provides specific recommendations on how to
implement the activities in the Centre of Excellence on each of these four components. A
preliminary estimation based on data and information collected show that during the
duration of the project (3 years), the Centre of Excellence will be potentially able to train
and place in the job market over 4,700 workers. Among these 4,200 are basic operators,
450 middle management staff, and 60 managers.
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1. Introduction
The UNIDO project “Capacity-building and job creation for youth and women in the
textile sector in migration prone areas of Ethiopia” is funded by the Italian Agency for
Development Cooperation (AICS) in Ethiopia. The project is implemented over three
years starting from September 2017, has a total budget of 2.5 million EUR, and is run in
close coordination with the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry (MoI).
As a follow up of the assessment conducted for the SINCE project1 inception phase, the
present project has been developed to tackle one of the main roots behind irregular
migration and displacement, i.e. youth unemployment and, more broadly, lagging
economic opportunities. The general objective of this project is to support the
Government of the FDR of Ethiopia (GoE) to create decent and productive job
opportunities for young women and men through the development of the strategic Textile
and Garment (T&G) sector. This is done by supporting capacity-building initiatives in the
textile industry through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach. Intervention focuses
on Tigray National Regional States, which is a region where the T&G industry is in rapid
expansion, and where significant fluxes of origin and transit of migrants currently takes
place. The project also responds to a specific official request from the Ethiopian MoI to
support the sector. The project is articulated in line with the Valletta Action Plan2 under
the chapter development benefits of migration, which addresses the root causes of
irregular migration and forced displacement. The project targets two priority areas:
Create employment opportunities and revenue-generating activities through
strengthening the professional and soft skills of young people, with a particular
focus on women, as well as broader institutional capacities in Tigray.
1 “Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern & Central Ethiopia (SINCE)”, SAP 160089. SINCE Project
Output 0 envisages the preparation of a UNIDO technical assistance project proposal - “Output 0 -
Inception Phase: Detailed Final Inception phase report plus a joint (ILO and UNIDO) inception phase
report is produced: including a UNIDO technical assistance project proposal, results oriented ToRs incl.
LOGFRAME, risk and stakeholder analysis, work plan, monitoring plan, budget prepared for SINCE
implementation”. This task has been incorporated within SINCE project activities about Output 0,
specifically, the activity 0.14 “0.14 A UNIDO Technical Assistance Project Proposal for supporting
inclusive and sustainable development of the selected value chains is prepared and submitted to the PSC”. 2 The European Union (EU) has launched in November 2015, at the Valletta Summit, an “Emergency Trust
Fund for stability and for addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa”,
made up of €1.8 billion from EU budget and European Development Fund, combined with contributions
from EU Member States and other donors.
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Facilitate responsible private investment in Africa agro-industries and boost intra-
African trade and exports of products through increased financial activities.
1.1. Project objectives
The project general objective is to contribute to the creation of decent and productive job
opportunities for young people, and women particularly, in the context of the current
expansion of the T&G industry in Tigray.
In this context, the specific objective is to support the Government of the FDR of
Ethiopia (GoE) to establish productive and effective training capacity at various levels of
the textile and garment industry – including technical skills for basic operators and
middle management, managers, as well as soft skills and institutional capacity.
Ultimately, the project aims to support the establishment a Centre of Excellence for Skill
Development in Mekelle, Tigray, through a PPP approach that favours the strategic
engagement of key industrial actors currently in the process of operating in the region
with relevant local, regional, and national public institutions.
1.2. Project background and rationale
The European Union (EU) has launched in November 2015, at the Valletta Summit, an
“Emergency Trust Fund for stability and for addressing root causes of irregular migration
and displaced persons in Africa”, made up of 1.8 billion EUR from EU budget and
European Development Fund, combined with contributions from EU Member States and
other donors.
The Trust Fund is an innovative mechanism under the EU’s Financial Regulation used in
the field of development cooperation to pool large resources from different donors to
enable a swift, common, complementary and flexible response to the different dimensions
of an emergency situation. The Trust Fund benefits a wide range of countries across
Africa that encompasses the major migration routes to Europe. These countries are
among the most fragile economically and most affected by migration, and hence are
expected benefit the most from EU financial assistance.
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The Trust Fund aims at tackling root causes of irregular migration and forced
displacement in countries of origin and transit, in particular by strengthening the rule of
law, creating economic and education opportunities, and building better governance, and
the effective sustainable return, readmission and reintegration of irregular migrants not
qualifying for protection. This requires a firm commitment to supporting capacity
building of third countries in the field of migration and border management, as well as to
the stabilisation and development of these regions of Africa.
Over the past few years, migration has increasingly become an issue of importance for
the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (GoE). Work has been
initiated towards enhancing the framework for legal migration. In June 2015, a
proclamation for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in person as well as
smuggling of migrants was adopted, giving Ethiopia a tool to help prevent and tackle this
increasingly important problem.
Furthermore, the EU and Ethiopia have signed a joint Declaration for a Common Agenda
on Migration and Mobility (CAMM), reflecting the importance of Ethiopia as a key
country of origin, transit and destination of irregular migrants and refugees from the Horn
of Africa on the route to Europe. The GoE has been actively supporting the reintegration
of returnees and is willing to address migration matters in a comprehensive way.
Moreover, the country strategy outlined in the Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP
II) makes youth and employment a high priority and intends to achieve results in
particular through the development of manufacturing industries, including through the
opening of Industrial Parks (IPs) in the country. The goal of these parks is to promote
industrial development and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) that generate employment
and sustain economic growth and development.
Forced displacement, irregular migration, trafficking in human beings and smuggling of
people are transnational challenges that affect Ethiopia to a great extent. A country with
an estimated population close to 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia hosts over one million
displaced persons, including over 450,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and about
730,000 refugees, the largest refugee population in Africa. The geostrategic situation of
Ethiopia makes it a source of, a destination for, and a transit region for migration and
refugee flows, mostly within the region but also to the Gulf countries and Middle East
(Eastern Route), Europe (Northern route) and South Africa (Southern route), as well as of
internal displacement. Ethiopia has an open door policy to migrants and refugees fleeing
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war, famine and hunger. In this context, it is often difficult to clearly distinguish irregular
migrants from refugees. The concept of mixed migration has thus appeared to describe
these complex population movements including refugees and asylum seekers,
unaccompanied minors, victims of trafficking, economic migrants and others often
travelling in an irregular manner. Ethiopia is increasingly becoming a transit country for
mixed migration flows, mainly from Eritrea and Somalia using primarily the Northern
route, as well as a country of departure for migrants mainly using the Eastern route and to
a lesser extent the Southern and Northern routes.
According to demographic projections, more than two million young Ethiopians enter the
labour market every year. The challenge of their socioeconomic integration is immense.
A lack of success in integrating these young people would be a collective failure and it
could risk destabilising Ethiopia. In addition, Ethiopia is regularly hit by humanitarian
crises.
Although manifested differently according to local contexts, a complex set of drivers
underpins forced displacement and mixed migration in Northern Ethiopia: lack of
economic opportunities, marginalisation, natural disasters, and food insecurity are at the
roots of the problem. While the country has experienced double-digit economic growth
rates during the last decade, the lack of economic opportunities, as well as of
participation in economic life, are still very high, adding to a sense of disenfranchisement
and constituting an important push factor for displacement. Across the country,
population displacement has continued or increased, with returns to places of origin
decreasing, and a growing flow of mixed migrants has also moved across the borders,
fuelling human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. A culture of migration, amplifying
the success stories of those making a good living abroad, spreads throughout the
Ethiopian society and constitutes a strong pull factor. Information may also have a key
role on migration patterns. At the same time, Ethiopia is also a recipient country for
refugees arriving in camps and irregular migrants. They are not allowed to access a
regular work permit and, as a result, they survive relying on informal sector activities
with no legal status. Insufficient data are available on the subject in Ethiopia.
Women, girls and migrants under the age of 20 are increasingly on the move and they
face additional vulnerabilities during their transit or at the point of arrival. Despite the
relatively low overall migration rate in Ethiopia if compared to other countries, migration
rates have been increasing. 86% of all migrants in Ethiopia are working migrants, seeking
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employment and 25% migrate from rural to urban areas. In Addis Ababa, internal
migrants (all those not residing in the community of their birth) represent nearly half of
the population, although there is a recent migration favouring smaller rural cities. A
majority of migrants are young at the time of departure: the average age of a migrant in
Ethiopia is 24 years old. There is also a large number of unaccompanied minors
continuously arriving in Ethiopia (particularly from Eritrea) who are at high risk of
trafficking and abuse. With more than 8,500 migrant child returnees registered from the
total of over 160,000 deportees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2013-2014, the
issue of migrant children is an important focus for Ethiopia.
Within this context, the MAECI-DGCS developed a project initiative, with a budget of 20
millions EUR funded by the EU, entitled: “Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern &
Central Ethiopia (SINCE)” for creating employment opportunities, especially for young
people and women. SINCE operates on the country’s four largest regions: Tigray,
Amhara, SNNPR, Oromia. A specific focus of SINCE are zones, small cities, rural towns,
and major cities including Addis Ababa, where the incidence of potential migrants and
returnees is higher.
As a follow up of the SINCE project, the Embassy of Italy in Addis Ababa requested
UNIDO to prepare a technical assistance project proposal to contribute to the reduction of
irregular migration from Northern and Central Ethiopia by creating greater economic and
employment opportunities for young women and men through the development of high
potential sectors such as agro-industries and related (e.g. textile, leather, metal working,
edible oil, etc.).
The AICS/UNIDO initiative has been designed and developed in close coordination with
the GoE, and the Ministry of Industry (MoI) in particular. During the “High Level MoI-
UNIDO Planning Meeting - Manufacturing Sector” held in Addis Ababa on 14 December
2016, UNIDO received clear instructions from the MoI regarding priority interventions to
be implemented in 2017 within the framework of the PCP-ETH. In this context, the State
Minister of Industry H.E. Bogale Felleke, in charge of the leather and textile sectors,
officially requested UNIDO to provide technical assistance to improve the institutional
capacity of both the MoI and the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute
(ETIDI), in order to meet the private sector requirements, facilitate the T&G sector
growth, and play a relevant role in creating skilled labour force.
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1.3. Methodology
This section addresses three methodological aspects of the project. First, it discusses the
methodology employed to identify the T&G as a priority sector and Tigray as a priority
area. Second, it focuses on questions about the adoption of a PPPs approach. Third, it
presents the methods of data collection and research analysis employed to conduct the
inception phase’s socio-economic assessment.
1.3.1. Identification of priority sectors and areas of intervention
Identifying sectors that have the capacity to effectively create jobs in line with the
objectives outlined in the GTP II national economic growth strategy is the core of the
intervention and methodology followed by UNIDO. In this regard, an effective
development strategy calls for the support to those sectors that generate higher added
value and employment. The T&G sector was selected for the following reasons:
Offers a considerable potential for employment creation and contribution to
national GDP;
Presents significant opportunities for income and employment multipliers;
Provides significant opportunities for economic integration of the national
economy and in terms of creation of forward and backward linkages.
The project relies on sector and value-chain development strategies targeting the T&G
industry. The labour-intensity of the sector is a key parameters taken into account in the
selection. However, the inclusive and sustainable development of the T&G industry in
Ethiopia goes hand in hand with the creation of quality and productive employment
opportunities.
In order to implement effective interventions with a significant impact on the creation of
employment and economic opportunities, the identification of the areas of interventions
was a priority addressed during the design of the project.
Criteria to identify areas of interventions included the following:
Presence of existing interventions focusing on job creation and value chain
development, in order to build on previous activities’ achievements.
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Coordination with existing Government socio-economic development plans: the
areas should be part of on-going strategic development plans of the Government
of Ethiopia.
Presence of public and private investments: the areas should be the target of
public and/or private investments on which the project can rely on in terms of
creation of sustainable employment and economic opportunities.
Criteria to identify the priority sectors included the following:
Target areas: areas have been targeted and prioritized based on the employment
creation opportunities, migration prone areas and beneficiaries’ needs base.
Employment: employment and wage levels, particularly for youth and women.
Size of Sector and its relevance to the target group: How labour-intensive is the
sector? What is the share of youth (women and men) and women working or
potentially working in the sector?
Work upgrading potential: After assessing the size and relevance of a sector, the
general characteristics of the sector are assessed together with its potential for
change towards the objective of decent work.
Intervention impacts: Finally the feasibility of stimulating change in a sector
(value chain) is assessed. Change depends on internal and external factors, namely
the capacity of the implementing agency to develop the sector and the capacity of
the target sector to develop (which in turn depends on social capital, market
demand for the products, etc.).
Based on the above-mentioned criteria the project identified the T&G sector as a main
priority sector, and Tigray – and more specifically the area around Mekelle – as the
priority area of intervention. However, the project is expected to produce broader national
repercussions, both in terms of capacity building to Federal institutions such as the MoI
and ETIDI, as well as potentially providing a blueprint to implement skill development
initiatives elsewhere in the country.
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1.3.2. Private Public Partnership (PPP) approach
The promotion of PPPs3 is central to the mission of UNIDO to ensure effective and
sustainable interventions in the field of industrial development. For the implementation of
this project the adoption of a PPP approach is key from many perspective. First, it allows
the prospected intervention long-term sustainability and a holistic approach to the
enhancement of the T&G value chain. Second, Core Business and Value Chain
Partnerships harness the core strengths of the private sector and/or aim at changing the
way businesses operate to be more in line with social, environmental and development
goals. Third, PPP allow the formulation of training programmes that reflect the practical
needs of the industry, and hence facilitate employability and the creation of productive
jobs.
Co-operation between the public and private sector has become more commonplace in
development circles and takes on various incarnations from the degree of involvement
and amount of risk assumed by the private partner. In the past decade PPPs have garnered
renewed interest. In 2008 the global financial crisis introduced new challenges for the
development sector. Increased limitations on public resources and renewed interest in
infrastructure has led many national administrations to look to the private sector to help
subsidize projects.
These partnerships have been shown to help bolster local economies, improving
infrastructure while improving local business and industry. PPPs introduce new resources
that the public sector alone fails to provide. Most notable comes in the form of the
technology and innovation the private sector can bring to public services and
development initiatives. PPPs help to slowly involve the private sector in public
enterprises, state-owned or operated, ultimately working to heighted the private sector’s
role. As a result, increased skill and technology transfer can take place and allow for
projects that operate with greater efficiency and professionalism.
Another important factor has to do with efficiency. The public sector and development
industry is often criticized for its inefficiency, many proponents of PPPs claim involving
the private sector helps improve time and spending. The World Bank claims, PPPs help
introduce “budgetary certainty by setting present and the future costs of infrastructure
3 Adopting more socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable business operations helps to mitigate
risk, develop new markets, and cultivate sustainable relationships with suppliers, customers and investors.
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projects over time” (Word Bank 2016). In addition to strengthening the public sector,
PPPs prove beneficial for the local private sector as well. Local firms often act as sub-
contractors, resulting in new opportunities for small-scale local ventures (Word Bank
2016). Lastly, PPPs help mitigate risk, allowing the private sector to shoulder a portion of
the financial, planning and operational burden.
Based on the above-mentioned premises, the inception phase of the project relied
significantly on a PPP approach. The formulation of the Action Plan of the project was
based on the mapping and involvement of key stakeholders from the public sectors –
local and national government institutions and university institutes – the private sectors –
foreign and national big T&G companies – as well as other donors, development partners,
and civil society organizations. Individual meetings with all these actors were followed
by the organizations of two Public-Private Roundtables on Skill Development, held in
Mekelle on December 2017 and January 2018. The roundtables constituted the main tool
through which project priorities, activities, and modalities of intervention were discussed
and agreed upon. The outcomes of the two roundtables are discussed extensively in the
Project Action plan of this Report.
The roundtables enabled discussing practical and conceptual aspects about the
establishment of the Centre of Excellence in Mekelle. They were critical in validating the
identification and selection of the Mekelle Garment College as a suitable institution
where to ground and develop the Centre of Excellence (also discussed in the Action
Plan). In addition, the roundtables enabled the establishment of a network of Private and
Public partners that are now committed to support the establishment of the Centre of
Excellence. This created the conditions for more focused one-to-one discussions to start
discussing specific Project Cooperation Agreements to be signed during the project’s
implementation phase. The PP Platform established during the inception phase of the
project not only represents a space where project’s counterparts discuss and facilitate
project implementation, but also an arena where the private sector continuously interact
with public institutions to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Ethiopian T&G
industry.
At a more practical level for the project, a main outcome of the two roundtables was the
formulation, discussion, and drafting of training manuals to be adopted in the Centre of
Excellence. Private companies led the formulation of specific training manuals on a
variety of topics that were identified as priority during the discussion. Training manuals
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were developed on technical skills for basic operators, middle management, managers,
and soft skills training. All the manuals have been included as attachments to this Report.
In addition, based on the in-depth analysis conducted during the inception phase and the
experience of private sector actors, further “non-conventional” soft skills training
activities were identified and discussed during the roundtable. The outcome of such
discussion is also included in the Project Action Plan below.
1.3.3. Methods of data collection and analysis for the socio-economic assessment
The socio-economic assessment informing this Report is based on mixed qualitative
methods of data collection and research analysis.4 These include an extensive review of
the available literature on the T&G sector in Ethiopia, and more broadly in developing
countries and the analysis of national and regional policy documents. Socio-economic
statistics on Tigray and Mekelle Municipality were collected at several local government
offices, such SMMIDA, BOLSA, Urban Job Creation and Food Security, and the TEVT
Bureau. Statistical information was discussed in meetings with the officers responsible
for data collection. Informal discussions, formal interviews, and meetings were held with
T&G companies operating in Tigray, relevant national and local government offices,
international development organizations and donors, as well as NGOs and other civil
society organizations. These interactions enabled to discuss details about the project,
mapping relevant partners and stakeholders, verifying potential overlapping and creating
synergies, and eventually establishing a network to organize the two public-private
roundtables discussed above. The same snowball method of formal and informal
discussion was employed to find a suitable institutional location for the Centre of
Excellence in Mekelle.
After a first screening of the data collected, and the outcomes of the two roundtables, it
became clear that the socio-economic assessment required a broader scope than a narrow
focus on the area around Mekelle. The main reason is that the rapid expansion of the
T&G sector is associated with significant labour migration, with increasing amount
workers expected to be sourced from the neighbouring rural localities. For this reason,
further socio-economic assessment was conducted in six wereda bordering with Mekelle
Municipality. Also in this case mixed qualitative research methods were used for the
4 Data collection was conducted with the precious support of the national staff of UNIDO, and particularly
with invaluable help of Mr Tsegabu Teka, and Mr Samson Baraki.
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investigation. Socio-economic statistical information were collected at relevant wereda
offices, side by side with group discussion with key stakeholders, mainly local
government officials. The aim of this research component was to assess potentials for
labour migration to the industrial areas around Mekelle, as well as evaluating the
institutional capacity in place for trainings.
A further important component of the socio-economic assessment was the collection of
28 in-depth interviews of workers and trainees currently employed in the textile industry.
Interviews of about 30-40 minutes each were collected at the DBL-run training centre in
Qwiha, as well as in the premises of MAA garment. Interviews were aimed at
reconstructing the life trajectories of young workers and trainees in the sector and explore
aspirations, challenges, and attitudes towards industrial work. This research component
was also instrumental to discuss key gender dynamics pertaining the project and the
future development of the textile industry.
1.4. Project priority areas
This section elaborates further on the reasons behind the decision to focus the
AICS/UNIDO intervention on the T&G industry of Tigray, and more specifically to
target the rapidly emerging textile industry in the area around Mekelle. This was initially
motivated by the following reasons:
The labour-intensity of the sector, with projection to employ a great amount of
women and youth over the course of the next few years;
The significant investments currently promoted in the area of Mekelle by major
international T&G corporations, which is going to boost the demand for
manufacturing jobs at various levels, and, in the long run, driving a progressive
specialization and diversification of the sectors to medium and small-scale
enterprises;
The particular incidence of internal and international migratory fluxes in the
region due to a number of reasons, including the proximity with the Eritrean
border, as well as the above-mentioned drivers of the Eastern, Northern, and
Southern route;
The specific dynamic of Mekelle city, and its peri-urban areas more specifically,
which is currently characterized by very high rates of urbanization, and
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progressive expansion of the city in the surrounding rural areas – this creating
complex and multi-layered movement of young people seeking for new job
opportunities.
Map 1. Tigray National Regional State.
In recent years the T&G sector has experienced a remarkable expansion and managed to
attract the attention of key foreign investors and buyers. In 2014, 36 T&G foreign direct
investments projects were licensed in Ethiopia, with an average capital investment of
USD 140 million. In addition, T&G businesses will play a central role in the 15 Industrial
Parks (IPs) that are currently under construction throughout the country (4 have been
already completed).
Current figures show that over 136 T&G manufacturing companies, ranging from
medium to large scale, are currently involved at different levels in the segments of
ginning, spinning, weaving, finishing and garment. In addition, a considerable number of
start-ups and micro enterprises are involved in the sector at different levels and both in
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‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ apparel production. Figures from the Central Statistical
Agency (CSA) show the remarkable growth in the number of people employed from
72,899 in 2013 to 250,552 in 2016.
Tigray is at the forefront of this development. The first 12 sheds of Mekelle IP have been
completed and the Park is currently operational as of January 2018. International and
local companies have already booked a vast majority of the space available in the IP. The
Bangladeshi Strathmore has rented over 70% of the Park for its own production. In
addition, important international T&G firms have already invested in new production
plants outside the park. For instance, these include the Indian Velocity, the Bangladeshi
DBL, and the Italian ITACA. In the next couple of years the expanding T&G industry
will therefore require a significant amount of workers with different degrees of
specialization that are currently not readily available in the market.
Interviews with international business operators suggest that Tigray, and the area around
Mekelle more specifically, is considered particularly suitable for the development of the
T&G industry for a number of reasons. These include the prospective construction of an
additional railway line connecting Mekelle to Djibouti, the commitment of the federal
and local institutions to develop the T&G sector in the region, the availability of cheap
water and electricity, and political stability.
With a rapidly growing young population and an increasing trend towards urbanization,
the area around Mekelle is expected to become the next T&G global hub. The sector is
going to require the hiring of thousands of manufacturing workers with different levels
and degrees of specialization. However, the rapid growth of the sector and the extent to
which decent and long terms jobs will be created is met by significant challenges. As
employment creation for youth and women remains a top priority for Ethiopia, and the
T&G sector presents a unique opportunity to achieve such objective, industrialization
articulates significant social, cultural and environmental complexities. One reason why
the Tigray is attracting international investments in the T&G sector is because the cost of
labour is lower than in many other T&G producing countries (a fifth’s of China and half
of Vietnam’s). However, as productivity of labour remains low, this comparative
advantage does not automatically translate into a competitive advantage for the sector.
While there is little doubt about the labour intensity of the T&G industry, as well as its
current potential for rapid expansion, the extent to which the sector offers possibilities for
creating decent job opportunities is more controversial.
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1.5. Project priority sector targets
Despite the availability of a young and large labour force, Tigray’s T&G sector is
constrained by the lack of sufficiently skilled manpower, in terms of basic operators and
technicians, as well as specialists, designers, mechanics, and management supervisors.
Lack of skills is an overwhelming priority that is directly correlated to low productivity
and quality, and which currently hinders the potential expansion of the sector as a whole,
including spin-offs to local small enterprises. Skill development is crucial for creating
value addition, increasing profitability, as well as meeting buyer requirements. Crucially,
on the side of workers skill development is important for claiming and negotiating better
salaries.
The cost of labour is comparatively lower than in other T&G export oriented countries
such as China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and companies currently offer wages that
in some cases can be as low as 800 ETB per month. While the law provides no minimum
wage, in some cases this limits the possibility for negotiating other essential benefits for
workers, such as health care, overtime, paid leave, and unfair dismissal cases. The lack of
adequate controls, standards, and procedures constitute challenges to the achievement of
decent work conditions. The question of low wages is connected to the very low
productivity of labour, as well as the lack of skilled manpower. On the one hand low
productivity of labour limits the possibilities for increasing wages while keeping the
industry economically sustainable. On the other hand as soon as workers acquire new
skills they immediately look for better salaries elsewhere, and in some cases attempt to
open their own small business, which is often valued much more in comparative terms to
wage employment.
Lack of skills is particularly significant for the downstream segments of the value chain
such as production of finished garments. The lack of basic operators and supervisors
reduces the productivity and quality, whereas the lack of designers limits the capacity of
companies to create value addition. Both hinder the ability of clothing companies to
expand production, and hence hire more workers. A connected issue is that lack of skilled
manpower reduces the potential positive gains in terms of productivity stemming from
the adoption of new machineries and technologies: as many large companies are currently
upgrading their capacity through the adoption of capital intensive equipment, they often
lack qualified staff to operate it. This is also one of the reasons why the T&G industry as
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a whole, and downstream segments in particular, operate much below full potential
capacity.
Major target areas of the AICS/UNIDO project are the following:
1) Lack of adequate technical and vocational training (TVET) capacity. 5 The
education system in Ethiopia provides for the formation of both skilled and unskilled
workers through a number of curricula at university level, as well as TVET colleges.
However, the institutes have little capacity to produce the required quality and
quantity of manpower.
2) Lack of sufficient on the job training. The lack of an effective TVET system
leaves the burden to prepare a specialized workforce to the private sector. However,
few companies provide adequate trainings, whose scope is often quite narrow.
3) High turnover and absenteeism: Low salaries provide little incentives to enhance
labour productivity and loyalty. Low salaries are coupled by the lack of a working
culture in the large industry, and lead to high levels of turnover and absenteeism.
Currently turnover rate on average is 8.5% / month and absenteeism rate on average is
9.6% / month.
5 As indicated in the document “GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION PLAN OF THE TVET SECTOR
FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS (2015/16-2020)”, prepared by the GoE, the major challenges that need
attention for ensuring TVETs development are the following:
“The structure of the technology army was not built on bases of knowledge, skills and attitudes to
create the army at the expected level.
The development program implementing offices are unable to own the determinant role of assuring
workforce competence and technology capacity building for competitiveness.
There are difficulties in making development programs centre for assessment and training by
certifying occupational competences of professionals who are engaged in works and in selecting
and promoting the best ones as industrial assessors and trainers.
Since institutions have not been expanded at regional and Federal levels, accessibility problem has
been abundant
Since there is no strong connection among universities, research institutions, TVET and the industry,
technology capacity building was not owned collectively and not yet become effective.
There is a wide gap between demand and capacity in the endeavour of transition from agriculture led
to industry led economy.
Our trainers are not in a position to fully imitate technology based on value-chains.
There are constraints in terms of fully ascertaining the equitable benefits of women, the emerging
regions and others who seek for different types of trainings.”
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4) Poor efficiency: Efficiency is around 20% to 30% (max 45% in seldom cases and
not continuous. The international benchmark for a profitable business is at 65% as a
minimum).
5) Lack of middle management capacity and supervisors: Beside the lack of basic
operators the T&G industry suffers from the absence of middle management
personnel such as line managers supervisors. Management methods are outdated and
do not respond to the current requirements of an industry facing global competition.
The industry depends not only on the availability of man power with the right attitude
but also on the technical competence which extends from operator to production
manager; supporting staff for merchandising as well as mechanics. Looking at the
broad demand on workers issues need to be address at various levels.
6) Resistance to change and lack of soft skills: Workers and managers lack sector-
specific knowledge, and broader behavioural and factory ‘life-style’ trainings. Many
employees come from very different backgrounds and often from a completely
different life-style in agriculture.
7) Lack of Institutional capacities: Both the MoI and ETIDI require technical
assistance in order to support the T&G industrial growth and improve the
coordination among the stakeholders involved both public and private. The
coordination among the activities and initiatives performed within the T&G sector by
the development partners has also to be improved and inserted within the PCP-
Ethiopia framework.
1.5. Project beneficiaries
The objective of the project is to create decent job opportunities in the emerging T&G
industry of Tigray, with a particular focus on women and youth. Trainings are envisaged
to facilitate the employability of basic operators and middle management staff in large
factories operating directly in the T&G or related sectors. The project envisages a
capacity building component whereby an effective system of training is established by
creating stronger ties between private and public sector actors.
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The project aims to support the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Mekelle to
provide such trainings based on a Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) approach. A PPP
approach involves TVETs, universities, local and national governmental institutions, and
key private sector actors currently operating in the area around Mekelle.
The Centre of Excellence is envisioned as constituting a main hub to improve the
capacity of the system to create autonomously a sufficient amount of skilled workers –
basic operators, middle management staff and managers – for the industry to develop in a
socially and economically sustainable way. Ultimately, the expectation is to create a
model potentially replicable in the rest of the country. The intervention is expected to
mirror broader positive socio-economic impacts, including better salaries and increased
opportunities for local industrial spin-offs and technology transfer. As a result of the
process of capacity building in general, as well as the technical skill development,
training and institutional support programs for the National Institutions working on the
T&G industry, Ethiopia will benefit from a quality product development and a consumer
protected supply chain.
Furthermore the project aims to support the MoI and ETIDI through institutional capacity
building, i.e. the two national institutions leading and driving the growth and
development of the T&G sector. At this level the project has the objective to strengthen
the coordination of relevant stakeholders, including other international donors and public
and private sector actors. The objective to improve the sector’s coordination aims to fulfil
the guidelines provided by the PCP-Ethiopia framework.
The Tigray Regional State will benefit from the project in terms of increased capacity
stemming from the establishment of the Centre of Excellence. In the next few years the
T&G sector is expected to attract over 30,000 workers that are thus in urgent need for
skill training. Out of these approximately 4,000 will be junior, senior or/and higher
skilled professions. One central concern is that currently available trainings do not match
the requirement of the industry, and therefore do not translate in the creation of decent
and productive jobs. This applies to all levels, from basic operators, middle management,
and managers.
The importance of skill development for the broader trajectory of the textile sector in
Tigray was the topic addressed in a meeting that took place in Mekelle on 9 February
2017, and that brought together international development partners and international
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private companies. The international retailer H&M provided an estimation of the
workforce needed for establishing a sample factory equipped with 2000 sewing
machines, as follows:
This figure clearly highlight that to develop effectively the industry requires not only
trainings for basic operators, but also for junior and middle management, as well as
managerial staff. This points at the need to establish a training facility – i.e. Centre of
Excellence – that addresses questions about skill training in a broader, holistic manner.
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2. The Textile and Garment Industry in Ethiopia
While the T&G industry has a long history in Ethiopia dating back to the Italian period
when the first garment factory was established in 1939, since the return to a market
economy in 1990s the sector was given particular consideration by the GoE for its
poverty reduction and economic growth potential, given its labour intensity. Since 2010-
11 the T&G has been identified as one of the priority sector of the Ethiopian industrial
policy. A significant transformation is the transfer of public owned T&G industries to the
private sector.
As part of the development agenda set in the 2010-2015 Growth and Transformation Plan
(GTP I) – whose overall objective was to lay out the structural conditions to transform
Ethiopia into a middle income country by 2025 – the GoE included the T&G sector as
one of the strategic areas for export growth and fast employment creation. While the
ambitious initial plan to generate USD 1 billion worth of the industry’s export by the end
of the GTP I period was not achieved (in 2014/15 accounted for USD 98.9 millions), in
recent years the T&G sector has experienced a remarkable expansion and managed to
attract the attention of key foreign investors and buyers, such as ITACA, H&M, G&T,
Primark, Phillips Van Heusen, Tschibo, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, VF Corporation, and
Inditex. In 2014, 36 T&G foreign direct investments projects were licensed in Ethiopia,
with an average capital investment of USD 140 million. These projects employ an
estimated average of 2,500 people each.
Current figures show that over 136 T&G manufacturing companies, ranging from
medium to large scale, are currently involved at different levels in the segments of
ginning, spinning, weaving, finishing and garment. In addition, a considerable number of
start-ups and micro enterprises are involved in the sector at different levels and both in
‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ apparel production. Figures obtained from the Central
Statistical Agency (CSA) accounting for the T&G sector for the last four years, show the
remarkable growth in the number of people employed from 72,899 in 2013 to 250,552 in
2016 (see Table 1, Employees in the T&G sector, 2013-2016, Central Statistical Agency).
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Table 1. Employees in the T&G sector, 2013-2016, Central Statistical Agency.
In line with the objectives outlined in the GTP I, the new Growth and Transformation
Plan for the years 2015/16 – 2019/20 (GTP II) reaffirmed the focus on labour-intensive
industrial products where Ethiopia has a comparative advantage given the relative
abundance of labour and low wages during the plan period (GTP II, p. 106). Jobs in the
manufacturing sector are expected to increase on average by 15% annually, from 380,000
in 2014/15 to 758,000 by 2019/20. Women and youth are expected to be the primary
beneficiaries of the job opportunities in the manufacturing sector (GTP II, p. 117). Within
manufacturing, the consolidation of the T&G industry will play a considerable role in
rapid employment creation. At the end of GTP II the sector is planned to manufacture
USD 2.18 billion worth of production, earn USD 779 million in export revenue, and to
create 174,000 additional job opportunities.
The industrial development strategy of Ethiopia is expected to promote the T&G industry
throughout the entirety of the value chain. It is assumed that the overall growth of the
sector will potentially generate significant spill-overs in terms of opportunities for
agriculture development through sustained cotton production – i.e. upstream linkages that
create income for both farmers and investors – as well as laying the foundations for other
industries to develop, such as for accessories, chemical, and other inputs which are
currently imported. More broadly, the GoE approach to promote fast growth in the T&G
industry was developed in the mid-2000s and is known as Top-Down Pulling Strategy.
The strategy casts a primary role to central state intervention in developing the sector, and
is based on a plan to accelerate the development of the apparel segment of the value chain
first. This will in turn create the structural market conditions for pulling the development
of the textile industry, as well as cotton production via increased demand. The strategy
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assumes that the apparel industry will initially be heavily run by foreign investments and
import of capital-intensive goods such as machineries. However, in the long run a
progressive import-substitution will occur as soon as the apparel segment will achieve a
critical threshold able to drive an expansion of the upstream segments of the value chain.
From an institutional perspective, a significant outcome of the increased emphasis on the
T&G sector by the GoE was the establishment of the Ethiopian Textile Industry
Development Institute (ETIDI) in 2010. The Institute’s main mission is to lead,
coordinate, and monitor the development of the sector, as well as to support the industry
to speed up the establishment and competiveness of textile and apparel industry in
international market. As identified by the ETIDI, in the coming years the T&G sector
holds significant prospect for growth because of the following strategic advantages:
Suitable Agro climatic conditions for cotton production;
Availability of a large and young workforce and relative low cost of labour for
both skilled and unskilled workers;
Low costs for electricity (especially hydraulic energy) and water;
Relative proximity to Europe and preferential market access (e.g. AGOA, EBA,
COMESA).
In addition to these strategic advantages, the GoE has set a number of incentives to attract
FDIs in the T&G industry. The coordination of the FDIs is facilitated by the ETIDI, as
well as the Ethiopian Investment Agency. Incentives include the following:
Significant state support through a number of incentives, tax breaks, profit tax
exemption, reduced rates for land lease, and creation of dedicated industrial
zones;
Advantageous rates for land lease;
Access to credit through the Development Bank of Ethiopia, 70% loan for 30%
own equity;
Duty exemption for imported machinery and raw materials;
Exemption from the profit tax for up to 7 years depending on the size and location
of investment;
Creation of dedicated Industrial Parks to support the T&G industry.
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2.1. The T&G industry and employment creation in Ethiopia
It is common knowledge that the T&G is among the most labour intensive sectors within
industry and manufacturing. In providing considerable employment opportunities
worldwide – especially to young women – the T&G is characterized by rapid market-
driven changes as well as geographically dispersed production. With a rapidly growing
young population and an increasing trend towards urbanization, Ethiopia offers ideal
conditions for a rapid development of the T&G sector when it comes to labour supply. As
noted earlier, employment creation for youth and women is one the top priorities of the
GoE development strategy. At the same time, in Ethiopia the cost of labour is lower than
in many other T&G producing countries. However, as productivity of labour remains
low, this comparative advantage does not automatically translate into a competitive
advantage for the sector.
Nonetheless, in the coming years the growth of the T&G sector driven by FDIs is
expected to generate considerable job opportunities for women and youth that are either
unemployed, or employed in the informal sector. As explained by one manager in the
T&G industry, the sector has also the potential to attract a large workforce from rural
areas previously engaged in smallholding farming. Table 2 (Ratio of cost of labour to
gross value of production by industrial group - public and private) highlights how the
T&G sector is characterized by a relatively higher labour intensity as compared to other
manufacturing industries in Ethiopia. The sector is believed to offer additional
advantages when it comes to rapid employment creation. These include the capacity of
state bureaucracy to mobilize people up to the micro level, the potential for creating other
labour-intensive spin-off industries – such as accessories and chemicals – as well as
upstream linkages to cotton production for which Ethiopia has a big potential.
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Table 2. Ratio of cost of labour to gross value of production by industrial group - public
and private. Source: Large and Medium Scale Manufacturing and Electricity Industries
Survey, Central Statistical Agency, 2014/2015.
The gender dynamic within the T&G industry varies quite considerably between small
businesses and large companies. While male dominates the former, especially when it
comes to handloom for traditional garment production, basic operators in large industries
tend to be constituted mostly by women. As in the coming years the growth of the sector
will be mainly driven by FDIs to establish large-scale companies, it is possible to expect
that a majority of the employment opportunities will target young women with a low
socio-economic profile.
While there is little doubt about the labour intensity of the T&G industry, as well as its
current potential for rapid expansion, the extent to which the sector offers possibilities for
creating decent job opportunities is much more controversial. As noted in many
interviews with local government officials, private sector, and NGOs the low cost of
labour is a main reason currently attracting FDIs in the sector. The cost of labour is
comparatively lower than in other T&G export oriented countries such as China, India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh (see Table 3. Wage rate distribution in garment). In some cases
low wages are the reason behind the relatively high turnover in the sector. The head of
the Textile and Garment Federation of the Ethiopian trade union noted that a main
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problem with the current rapid growth of industry and manufacturing in Ethiopia is the
lack of minimum wage. The T&G sector makes no exception to this picture, and many
companies currently offer wages that in some cases can be as low as 800 ETB per month.
From the perspective of the union the lack of a minimum wage limits the possibility for
discussing and negotiating other essential benefits for workers, such as health care,
overtime, paid leave, and unfair dismissal cases. In addition, the T&G sector presents
specific health hazard issues, for instance when it comes to the chemical processes
employed in dyeing and finishing. The lack of adequate controls, standards, and
procedures constitute challenges to the achievement of decent work conditions.
From the perspective of the big
international investors currently operating
in the country, the question of low wages
is connected to the very low productivity
of labour, as well as the lack of skilled
manpower. On the one hand low
productivity of labour limits the
possibilities for increasing wages while
keeping the industry economically
sustainable. On the other hand as soon as
workers acquire new skills they immediately look for better salaries elsewhere, and in
some cases attempt to open their own small business, which is often valued much more in
comparative terms to wage employment. A further element to consider when it comes to
the objective of creating decent jobs is specific to prospected T&G large manufacturing
plants. Interviews conducted in Tigray with a number of investors that are either currently
planning to start large scale operations or are already operational show that while
manpower is generally available, a specific problem is the recruitment of large numbers
of people in one specific location. For this reason the availability of infrastructure,
facilities, and services is crucial to limit labour turnover, as well as convincing a large
number of people to relocate in the surrounding of newly established production plants.
In light of these issues, many investors in collaboration with the local government are
planning to strengthen existing transport services, as well as planning the construction of
facilities such as medical clinics, housing, as well as shops and other services. Other
elements to take into account are the mechanisms of Social and Corporate Responsibility
of large scale investors, which often commit producers to fulfil basic labour rights, as this
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Figure 10: Population distribution by age in Ethiopia
Age
Gender 0-14
years
15-24
years
25-54
years
55-64
years
65
years+
Male 21376243 9557462 14023218 1826602 1242171
Female 21308454 9692275 14176263 19191212 1511558
Total 42684697 19249737 28199481 21017814 2753729
Source: CIA Fact book
3.1.3 Lower cost factors of production
Ethiopia has no predetermined minimum wage, and the minimum wages in practice is much
less than other countries, and many folds less than some major textile and apparel
manufacturing countries. Other cost factors of production like energy cost, water cost, land
leasing rate, corporate tax etc. are much less than other countries.
Figure 11: Wage rate distribution in global garments industry
Source: Business Opportunity Report Ethiopia – Textile and Apparel Industry, 2014 Table 3. Wage rate distribution in garment.
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is demanded by the public opinion purchasing the end product in western markets.
Finally, it seems that while in principle creating quality jobs in the T&G industry is not
the main priority in the current phase of rapid industrial expansion, some specific
conditions may favour in the medium and long run to bring about better work conditions
in the direction of the objective of creating decent job opportunities.
T&G in Ethiopia is a sector that historically attracts a considerable number of migrant
workers. Interviews with Ready Made Garments companies and clusters in Mekelle show
how the workforce employed in the sector rarely originates from the areas surrounding
the production site. For instance evidence from clusters at Gundish Meda in Addis Ababa
show that a majority of the workers employed are migrants from the SNNPR, and
particularly from Gamo Gofa zone. This shows that at different levels a rapid expansion
of the T&G sector has the potential for generating employment opportunities for migrants
or potential migrants. A recent study conducted by regional TVET offices in Tigray put
in correlation the T&G industry with migratory patterns in the region. The study shows
that the T&G industry has the potential to limit the economic migration both internally in
Ethiopia, as well as international migration (Mekelle Textile Garment College 2013).
2.2. The T&G and exports in Ethiopia
In a recent study conducted in collaboration between the International Trade Centre (ITC)
and ETIDI the export of apparel in Ethiopia is projected to increase annually of 35% to
reach in 2020 US$ 320 million. Over 200 new firms are expected to enter the sector,
which is going to provide additional 45,000 jobs through the development of 600 new
production lines in yarn, textile, and apparel production. If these projections will be
confirmed export-oriented garment production will become one of the driving force of
the Ethiopian economy, and a central pillar of its industrialization policy. With
appropriate support, the sub-sector holds the potential to generate significant employment
opportunities in the very short term.
The expansion of the downstream segments of the T&G sector for export is driven by at
least two factors. First, apparel manufacturing has been included among the main
strategic priorities in the long-term development strategy of Ethiopia. Currently,
measures to promote a rapid expansion of this segment of the T&G value chain include
cheap land lease and rent in industrial villages, low interest rates for loan through the
Development Bank of Ethiopia, institutional support by various government bodies in
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marketing, duty free privileges and tax holidays. It is important to note that the same
kinds of incentives are not provided for businesses operating in the local market. Apparel
enterprises are restricted from operating in the domestic market because of the heavier the
tax regime as well as lack of institutional incentives and support. As noted in interviews
with private sector actors, it is worth noting that in recent years these incentives attracted
the attention not only of international T&G firms but also of many local investors with
little apparel manufacturing experience. After starting operation, the apparel enterprises
encountered challenges that were not originally anticipated. It was assumed by many that
fabrics could be easily sourced both from abroad and locally. In practice this was seldom
the case.
As considerable government support is offered for speeding up the competitiveness of
downstream segments of the value chain, in the short term the production of apparel and
to some extent yarns for export is expected to grow rapidly. This is in line with available
data (see Table 4, T&G export in Ethiopia, 2001-2014) showing that the majority of
growth in the past five years was due to an expansion of apparel exports (74%), followed
by home textiles and carpets (22%), and textiles (10%).
Table 4. T&G export in Ethiopia, 2001-2014, US$ thousands, ITC (2016).
Currently the export share of textile from total manufacturing export is 23.2%, whereas
export share of textile from total export of the country is 3.5% (ETIDI 2016). While
export of textile and apparel has increased markedly in the last few years (although from
a very low base), since 2012/3 Ethiopia has become a net-importer of cotton due to the
rapid rise in demand from upper stream value chain. Given also the current structure of
the international market – characterised by an increasing demand for flexible and ‘full
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package’ services – the industry will be mainly driven by large international retailers
seeking for a production of finished or semi-finished garments. As result, from the
perspective of the labour market, in the very short period the demand for skilled and
unskilled workforce to employ in large factories is likely to increase sharply. This is
confirmed by available evidence in recent policy and sector development reports (ETIDI
2016; ETGAMA 2014), as well as confirmed by interviews with relevant government
bodies and private sector actors.
Beyond strong government support to strengthen export as a way to earn hard foreign
currency – as well as the availability of a young and cheap workforce – a main reason
currently attracting FDIs in T&G production for export is the preferential access to the
EU and US, as well as the continental market. Together with other 39 countries in Sub-
Saharan Africa, in 2001 Ethiopia became a beneficiary of the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA allows Ethiopia to export qualified products to the US
market duty free, as well as without quota limitations. Evidence from ETGAMA (2014)
shows that the growth of the apparel sub-sector in countries such as Swaziland, Lesotho,
and Botswana has been largely driven by the impact of AGOA. While Ethiopia is still
lagging behind, the potential for making the most of AGOA is significant. In a similar
way, and still in 2001, the EU adopted the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative to 49
developing countries. Under EBA Ethiopian exports except arms and ammunition are
granted duty free access to the European common market. EBA is expected to operate in
the long run, as in principle it is not subjected to periodical renewal. Under EBA
quantitative restrictions are not mandatory, and they were imposed for a limited period
only to products such as bananas, sugar, and rice. Available figures show that over 80%
of the total exports of T&G in Ethiopia are directed to the European common market.
Ethiopia enjoys preferential market access also within the Common Market for East and
South Africa (COMESA), while a free trade agreement is in the process of being finalised
between COMESA, the East African Community (EAC), and the South African
Development Community (SADC). In showing the main export countries for garment
production Table 5 (Destination of garment export in Ethiopia) highlights that a vast
majority of finished apparel is currently exported to Germany (~75% of the total), with
AGOA accounting for only 12.3% of total garment exports.
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Table 5. Destination of garment export in Ethiopia
A further reason why the apparel segment of the value chain currently holds considerable
potential for rapid expansion in the short run is the (potential) availability of essential
inputs, such as cotton, as well as cheap water and electricity. It was noted earlier that
cotton production offers considerable opportunities for expansion. While vast areas of the
country offer suitable agro-climatic conditions, structural and market inefficiencies
currently constrain the sub-sector. However, as soon as the growing demand from the
downstream T&G industry will drive an increase in prices and hence the profitability of
the sub-sector as compared to other cash crops, production is likely to increase sharply
(see paragraph 6.3.3.1). Nonetheless, it is unlikely that such transformations will take
place in the very short run. For instance, the conversion of large tracts of land to cotton
farming may meet the opposition of farming communities, and hence raise issues of
social justice. As noted by some private sector actors these issues are currently very
important to branding strategies in T&G sector, as well as the Corporate and Social
Responsibility of international companies and retailers.
Availability of water and affordable energy is central for successful and sustained
production in the T&G industry. Ethiopia holds a considerable strategic advantage in this
regard, especially if compared to other country in the region and in Africa more broadly.
Available figures show that the cost of energy is much cheaper than in other export-
oriented T&G countries such as China, India and Bangladesh (see Table 6, Cost of
energy in Ethiopia). As lamented by some private sector actors the supply of electricity
and water is not always stable, with power and water cuts potentially jeopardizing
production being quite frequent. However, it is expected that in the short to medium term
these supply and distribution issues will be addressed and solved. The GoE is currently
investing in the modernization of the power grid, and the forthcoming opening of large
hydroelectric plants (such as the Millennium Dam) is expected to guarantee a sustained
0 10,000,000 20,000,000 30,000,000 40,000,000 50,000,000 60,000,000 70,000,000
Germany
USA
Italy
Sudan
UK
Total
2015
2014
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supply of cheap energy. In addition, the fact that the bulk of electricity in Ethiopia is or
will be produced through renewable sources (primarily hydroelectric) is seen as an
important added value for the branding of garments in western markets.
Table 6. Cost of energy in Ethiopia
As far as the potential for developing backward and forward linkages is concerned it was
noted earlier how a main challenge of the T&G sector in general – and garment
production for export in particular – is the lack of vertical integration of the value chain.
While the most promising backward linkage is that between cotton production and
downstream segments of the value chain, it is unlikely that this is going to be developed
in the very short term. However, the current trend seeing international investors
establishing integrated T&G factories, particularly in Tigray and forthcoming Industrial
Parks, speaks to the potential for enhanced integration of garment production with upper
stream segments of the value chain. In the medium term, this is likely to create conditions
for other spin-off industries – such as for accessories – to develop, as it will be shown in
the next paragraphs.
The garment segment of the value chain is expected to grow rapidly in the next few
months, and with it the need for specialised manpower in a variety of fields, including
basic textile operators, middle management staff, mechanics, etc. This is confirmed by
interviews with private sector actors, government officials, as well as civil society
organizations.
37
Figure 12: Energy consumption in global garments industry
Source: Business Opportunity Report Ethiopia – Textile and Apparel Industry, 2014
Table 6: Cost Factors of Production among various RMG exporting countries
Comparison of Cost Factor of Production
Attribute
Unit cost Ethiopia Bangladesh India Pakistan Turkey China
Minimum
wages
USD per
Month
40 74 125 80 600 175
Electricity
Cost
USD per
KWH
0.04 0.11 0.10 0.08 0.10 0.28
Vietna
m 0.95
Bank
interest
rate
Annual
rate of
Interest
%
7.5-8.5
(Govt)
12-13
(com.
bank
13-15
(Govt)
14-17 (com.
Bank)
7-9 (Govt)
12-14
(commercial
bank)
7.5
(Govt) 13
(
commerc
ial bank )
10 (Govt)
10 (
commercia
l bank )
5.5
(Govt)
5.5 (
commer
cial bank )
Water
consumpti
on
USD per
Cubic
meter
0.31 0.34
$ 0.38/CM
ETP
Myanmar
0.88
Land
leasing
rate
USD per
Square
meter
.30-.75
(IP) 0.35
– 2 non
(IP)
2.75 (EPZ)
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2.3. Gap analysis of the T&G industry in Ethiopia
Based on what highlighted above the T&G industry holds significant potential for rapid
employment creation in the coming few years. Nonetheless, in order to uncap such
potential, specific challenges need to be addressed. It is worth noting that the following
gap analysis is specifically thought in relation to the specific objective about promoting
rapid employment creation. Challenges pertaining to employment creation can be divided
in two main groups:
1) Gaps in technical and soft skills;
2) Gaps in creating an enabling environment.
2.3.1. Gaps in technical and soft skills
Despite the availability of a young and large labour force, Ethiopia’s T&G sector is
constrained by the lack of sufficiently skilled manpower, in terms of basic operators and
technicians, as well as specialists, designers, mechanics, and management supervisors. As
noted in interviews with entrepreneurs and government officials, lack of skills is an
overwhelming priority that is directly correlated to low productivity and quality, and
which currently hinders the potential expansion of the sector as a whole. Skill
development is crucial for creating value addition, increasing profitability, as well as
meeting buyer requirements. Skill development is also directly connected to the
employability of a significant amount of workers in the short term. Lack of skills is
particularly significant for the downstream segments of the value chain such as
production of finished garments. The lack of basic operators and supervisors reduces the
productivity and quality, whereas the lack of designers limits the capacity of companies
to create value addition. Both hinder the ability of clothing companies to expand
production, and hence hire more workers. A connected issue is that lack of skilled
manpower reduces the potential positive gains in terms of productivity stemming from
the adoption of new machineries and technologies: as many large companies are currently
upgrading their capacity through the adoption of capital intensive equipment, they often
lack qualified staff to operate it. This is also one of the reasons why the T&G industry as
a whole, and downstream segments in particular, operate much below full potential
capacity. There are several factors that currently constrain skill development. A screening
of available literature and documents highlight the following:
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A. Lack of adequate technical and vocational training (TVET) capacity
The education system in Ethiopia provides for the formation of both skilled and unskilled
workers through a number of curricula at university level, as well as around 100 TVET
colleges throughout the country that are specialized in the T&G sector. However, the
institutes have little capacity to produce the required quality of manpower. Despite some
notable improvement recently, specific problems include lack of adequate equipment and
machineries, curricula not responding with the need of the industry, lack of qualified
teachers, weak links between universities, TVET and the private sector actors. For
instance, teachers lack knowledge of international best practices within the sector, as well
as modern management practices that would stimulate more efficient practices. A further
fundamental problem is the absence of internship programmes and quality standard
certifications for the T&G sector, which limits the possibilities for students to gain
enough practical experience. While the quality of training institutions is a main concern,
the current capacity of TVET is well below the demand of the industry also from a
quantitative perspective. As the T&G industry is expected to expand rapidly in the
coming years, strengthening the capacity of TVET will increasingly become an
overwhelming priority.
B. Lack of sufficient on the job training
The lack of an effective TVET system leaves the burden to prepare a specialized
workforce to the private sector. Given the current conditions there is a very strong
correlation between effective on the job training and sustainable/successful business.
However, few companies provide adequate trainings, whose scope is often quite narrow.
A significant issue is that only large companies can afford adequate on the job training
courses and appropriate HR development facilities. This is a significant bottleneck
constraining the development of small entrepreneurial initiatives, and more broadly the
growth of a competitive domestic T&G industry. More broadly, a gap exists between the
expertise that can be accessed by local firms and that which can be accessed by foreign-
owned companies: locally owned companies have weaker management in place. As local
owners often lack access to significant expertise in the provision of trainings, in the
medium term this may lead to a mismatch in which foreign companies gain an uneven
edge in the competition with local firms.
C. High turnover and absenteeism
While we noted earlier that low wages as compared to other T&G exporting countries are
a main reason behind the current growth and potential of the sector in Ethiopia, this also
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produces side effects. Low salaries, as well as the lack of financial incentives provide
little incentives to enhance labour productivity and loyalty. Low salaries are coupled by
the lack of a working culture in the large industry, and lead to high levels of turnover and
absenteeism. As noted by some entrepreneurs, many workers skip work when presented
with better paying job opportunities. In other cases assembly line workers are said to
resist fixed shifts, this creating significant problems with overall factory management and
organization. Poor working conditions, lack of adequate housing, medical services, and
other amenities, also provide little incentives to loyalty and accountability. Additional
issues leading to turnover and absenteeism include the lack of reliable transportations, as
well as baby care for women. High turnover affects many companies’ productivity as
trained workers are then replaced by untrained substitutes. Especially in the case of
smaller companies this reduces the opportunity/cost of investing in quality trainings, as it
limits the ability to capitalize from acquired skill sets.
D. Lack of middle management capacity and supervisors
Beside the lack of basic operators the T&G industry suffers from the absence of middle
management personnel such as line managers supervisors. A majority of existing
managers were trained at a time when the T&G industry – and more broadly the bulk of
the economy – was under public sector management and planning. As result management
methods are out-dated and informed by practices not responding with the current
requirement of an industry facing global competition. As noted in interviews with
entrepreneurs, main issues constraining the performance of managers include the limited
knowledge of modern technologies, market requirements, flexible models of production,
modern machineries, as well as IT and HR management practices. Training in generic
management skills such as planning, costing and pricing are currently highly demanded
by the industry.
E. Resistance to change and lack of soft skills
Given that a ‘modern’ T&G industry is currently under establishment, workers and
managers lack sector-specific knowledge. Many employees come from very different
backgrounds, at best from other industrial sectors, but most often from a completely
different life-style in agriculture. In this sense it is of overwhelming importance for the
education system to offer not only sector-specific trainings, but also broader behavioural
and factory ‘life-style’ trainings. These include security, time management, and other
trainings that would lead to more productive employees. As the industry stands currently,
many workers and managers prove to have a strong resistance to change. These issues
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can be addressed only by creating tighter connection between universities, TVETs, and
on the job private-led trainings.
F. Lack of a market-driven approach
A specific dimension behind the structural inefficiencies characterising the downstream
segments of the T&G value chain are connected to the lack of a market-driven approach.
Many of the former public owned large companies, as well as the bulk of medium and
small enterprises are production-driven. Disconnections are particularly evident between
producers and final buyers, but virtually characterises each segment of the value chain
from cotton production to yarn spinning, weaving and knitting, and finishing. Lack of
integration is a problem affecting small and medium companies especially, which are
often unable to align product development with supply chain management, as well as
coordinating effective skill development with the demands of final buyers. Reasons
include lack of trade information, as well as lack of market-oriented mentality on the side
of managers. Unsuccessful clustering and twinning experiences are precisely
characterised by the lack of effective trade support networks, as well as the inability to
make the most of shared information and research, such as contacts with potential
customers.
G. Problems in fulfilling adequate quality standards
Another key constraint currently inhibiting the T&G sector to operate at its full capacity –
especially in relation to clustering and twinning experiments – is the lack of capacity to
fulfil adequate quality standards for each segment of the value chain. This limits the
ability of entrepreneurial initiatives to capture significant value addition, particularly
when it comes to export markets. Furthermore, this inhibits the development of side
industries such as that for accessories, and in turn force companies to rely on expensive
import materials. A central concern is the poor understanding among firms throughout the
value chain of the importance to establish and develop control systems within the
production structures.
2.3.2. Gaps in creating an enabling environment
Despite its significant prospects for growth, the T&G sector is constrained by the lack of
vertical integration of the value chain which limits the potential for significant value
addition, and hence rapid employment creation. While this reflects the nascent status of
the industry, at several levels urgent measures need to be taken to establish an enabling
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environment for the sector to develop. Institutional support is crucial especially for
effectively twinning and clustering medium and small businesses in a context where
considerable market opportunities exist and can be exploited by fostering coordination
and the structural integration of the sector. We noted earlier that streamlining the T&G
sector is one among the top priorities of the GoE. However, while conducive policies and
conditions have been set to promote export, less so has been done to favour the
development of the domestic market. In addition, questions remain on the actual quality
and effectiveness of institutional support, as well as the measures put in place to attract
foreign and domestic investments in the sector. Gaps in the creation of a suitable
environment include the alignment of the priority of public institutions with the needs of
the industry; the establishment of an effective framework for cooperation between
enterprises; the support to international accreditation and quality infrastructure; the
certification of the production standards for export and targeted markets; effectiveness of
Custom services and transportation; and access to finance. Issues connected to the
creation of an enabling environment reflect the following gaps and bottlenecks:
1. Sourcing of inputs
With the exception of labour and energy, at virtually each segment of the value chain a
significant amount of inputs is not readily available and has to be sourced from abroad.
This is particularly relevant for downstream segments of the value chain – particularly
finished garment production – where the lack of locally sourced fabrics, accessories,
buttons, threads, and packaging hinders the potential for value addition and expansion. In
most of Ethiopia’s Asian competitors conditions for import as well as domestic supply for
inputs are faster and easier. At a moment where the industry is ready for take-off this
limits the dynamicity and flexibility through which production can adapt and respond to
buyer demands. As far as domestic production is concerned, garment factories and
especially small and medium scale enterprises have very limited knowledge in sourcing
their own material. A main gap to the sourcing of inputs is that garment producers are not
aware of best practices with regards to sourcing. Current and forthcoming international
investments in the sector address this problem by creating vertically integrated textile
mills sourcing inputs throughout the entirety of the value chain. While this is positive for
export this put domestic producers in a condition of further disadvantage vis-à-vis the
rapidly emerging large corporations for export. In addition, limited know-how, value
addition, and quality jobs are likely to be created in Ethiopia in the short and medium
periods. The textiles and fabrics sourced locally are often of inadequate both in terms of
quantity and quality. The same applies for accessories and other side industries. Investors
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see the domestic market as too small to be attractive with bureaucratic hurdles, costs for
transport and sourcing further constraining potential for profitability.
2. Lack of integration and limits to value addition
The sector current focus on the production of basic and low-costs goods is likely to boost
the employment of low skilled manpower in the short term. However, the development
and consolidation of domestic entrepreneurship needs to be compounded by adequate
managerial skills, such as for design. Institutional mechanisms establishing spill-overs of
know-how from the large industry to the small and medium companies are largely
missing. A gap exists in the current ability of the T&G sector to enhance coordination
between different actors as well as fully exploiting the potential value addition from
uncapping the local entrepreneurship potential. A connected issue is the limited use of
trade intelligence to adapt to the demands of an increasingly flexible global market, as
well as the persistence of a production driven attitude. Potential for twinning, clustering
and PPPs is significant for rapid and quality employment creation in the short to medium
run.
3. Institutional capacity and sector coordination
The nascent status of the T&G industry in Ethiopia reflects the lack of effective sector
associations enabling the coordination of market intelligence, supply, quality
requirements, as well as other services fostering integration. The same applies for the
labour side, with union and workers organizations having little organizational capacity to
support the objective of decent and stable job creation. The lack of institutional capacity
hinders the provision of quality services in the fields of policy advocacy, trade promotion,
quality management, worker rights, and health hazards. Improvements in these fields will
allow the sector to meet market requirements, as well as sourcing a motivated and more
productive manpower. Market expansion and employment creation are two
interconnected objectives that can be promoted through promotion services and
awareness campaigns from both the side of entrepreneurs and workers. A further gap
exists in the capacity of public institutions to coordinate sector participants effectively.
This produces an environment of mistrust and suspicion between companies, government
institutions, TVETs and higher education institutions. Efforts needs to be done in creating
an environment of trust in which different actors actively seek and make the most of
increased integration and cooperation. This is an especially crucial element for effective
twinning and clustering initiatives. Lack of coordination and cooperation hinders value
addition and the vertical integration of the value chain. Enhancing communication
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between different segments would allow for a more effective consolidation of industrial
orders, a more flexible production, as well as more fruitful bargaining between different
actors. Building trust is essential to transform unhealthy competition between companies
and institutions into structural advantages for the sector to develop rapidly.
4. Access to finance
The development of the T&G sector is significantly constrained by problems affecting
access to credit, especially for small and medium entrepreneurial initiatives. Access to
finance in Ethiopia still very much suffers from bureaucratic hurdles inherited from
previous systems of state planning of the economy. The microfinance sector is largely in
the hands of public-controlled institutions lacking skills for performing appropriate risk
and loan analysis, as well as following heavily bureaucratized protocols and procedures
not necessarily meeting the requirement of a rapidly transforming market. In comparison
to other textile export oriented countries, companies in Ethiopia are forced to get credit at
unfavourable terms with stringent collateral requirements that are difficult to meet
especially at early stages of business development. Shortage of foreign exchange and
working capital further limit the accessibility to flexible and advantageous financial
products needed for the sector to take off in the domestic market. Banks are often slow,
inefficient, and offer services that are quite expensive. Despite the Development Bank of
Ethiopia is currently attempting to tailor products for the T&G sector that would facilitate
access to credit there is still a long way to go for the market of capitals to be effective. A
bias against small businesses – which in turn are those more in need for support – is
particularly evident. Small and medium entrepreneurship schemes are those suffering the
most from a properly functioning financial system which limits their capacity to engage
in adequate capital upgrading, as well as to invest in value addition.
5. Upgrading machineries
Reliance on outdate technology is a problem that affect the productivity of the sector –
especially small and medium entrepreneurial initiatives – from many different
perspectives. While only few companies have the capacity to upgrade their equipment, up
to date machineries are directly correlated to greater value addition, as well as quality
production. Even when equipment is up to date they are seldom used at their full
capacity. In fact, the capacity to upgrade technology is affected by shortage of capital, as
well as the availability of skilled manpower to operate new equipment. Lack of upgrading
puts domestic small and medium enterprises in a position of disadvantage vis-à-vis other
domestic and foreign large firms. Another issue constraining the adoption of up to date
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equipment is the difficulty in identifying the appropriate technology. Many managers
often lack exposure to international best practices and have little knowledge on what is
available on the market, as well as how to tailor the needs of the production line with
appropriate machineries. Lack of maintenance and budgeting are further issues
constraining the adoption of new technology. Spare parts are sometimes difficult to find
either because it is a problem to source them in the international market, or because
suppliers have stopped producing them because too old.
6. Limited awareness on how to exploit preferential export markets
Ethiopia benefits from a number of conditions that allow preferential access to global
market, namely, locally produced goods can enter some of the most competitive regional
and global markets duty free. Throughout the past decade these factors have proved
significant to the rising growth of the Ethiopian T&G sector. These factors
notwithstanding, the main gap is that stakeholders are often unable to fully exploit
preferential market access opportunities. A key restraint proves limited awareness to both
the available market opportunities and the requirements of entry. Available market
opportunities are constrained by the lack of trade intelligence and information to guide
firms to make the most of preferential trade agreements. In addition exporters fail to fully
understand market entry requirements and when they are understood they are unable to
meet the rigorous demands of preferential markets (i.e. price competitiveness, delivery
time, quality, etc.). While improving trade intelligence will help to alleviate some of these
concerns, it must be developed in tandem with an overall improvement in the quality of
products being produced for export.
7. Trade promotion capacity
In order to enter new markets and expand in existing sites stakeholders must engage in
more effective trade promotion efforts. A main gap in micro and medium
entrepreneurship initiatives proves a lack of skills in marketing and publicity, with
effective marketing and sales strategies being absent. The lack of skilled managers
constitutes a challenge that universities and other training institutions fail to properly
address in order to serve the industry. Institutional support also proves lacking, for
instance this is evident in regard to buyer-seller meetings and integrating supply-and-
demand markets, as well as weakened capacities in the fields of coordination and
technical support.
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3. The Textile and Garment Industry in Tigray
This section brings together data collected at several local government institutions in
Tigray; individual and collective interviews with corporate actors in the area of Mekelle,
including major international firms; individual and collective interviews collected with
workers and trainees of the T&G industry. Interviews with workers and trainees were
collected at two sites: the MAA garment factory premises; the Qwiha training centre run
by DBL.
The following is a list that includes the main stakeholders contacted and interviewed:
Organization Contact person Email
Ethiopian Textile Industry
Development Institute
(ETIDI)
Seleshi Lemma [email protected]
om
ETGAMA/MAA garment
Fassil Taddesse [email protected]
Tigray Trade and Industry
Bureau
Ambassador Addis Alem
Balema
Bureau of Labour and
Social Affairs (BOLSA)
Ato Assefa Tegegne
Ato Assefa Hadush
Technical and Vocational
Training (TVET) bureau
Dr Mulugeta Hadis Weldu [email protected]
Mekelle Garment College
Ato Getahun Legesse
Woldemariam
Urban Job Creation and
Food Security Office
Kahsay Tesfay [email protected]
Small and Medium
Manufacturing Industry
Development Agency
Tilahun Tarke Weldu [email protected]
Mekelle Industrial Park
Development Corporation
(IPDC)
Goitom Gebrekidan [email protected]
H&M Bezait Amare [email protected]
Velocity
Tefetawit Gebremedhin training.eth@vogue-
intl.com
Calzedonia Federico Fraboni Federico.Fraboni@calzedon
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ia.it
DBL
Libelo Gebreselassie [email protected]
Strathmore Trading
(Ananta Group)
Sanjeeva Iperluma [email protected]
MAA garment
Abebe Girmay [email protected]
Decathlon Vingneshwaran Sukumar Vigneshwaran.sukumar@de
cathlon.com
College of Science and
Technology (Mekelle
University)
Ashenafi Aregawi [email protected]
Rainbow4Children
Kunom Hailu [email protected]
Don Bosco
Hagos Medhin [email protected]
VIS Chiara Lombardi Programme.eastafrica@voli
nt.it
ILO
Kidist Chala [email protected]
Marta Tsehay Sewasew [email protected]
EU delegation Carl Daspect [email protected]
u
Maria-Elena Ruiz Maria-Elena.Ruiz-
DFID Lindi Hlanze [email protected]
Enterprise Partners (EP) Michael Addisu Michael_Addisu@enterpris
epartners.org
GIZ Ulrich Plein [email protected]
Elisaveta Kostova [email protected]
3.1. The Manufacturing Industry in Tigray
A central component of Ethiopia’s development strategy resides in transferring from an
agricultural to an industrial economy. As a result, the Ethiopian government has drafted
an industrial development strategy to delineate a framework for transformation. Through
the Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II), the Ethiopian government set out a
target to reach an annual GDP growth rate of 11%. The GTP II sets out to guide far
reaching economic development, while increasing the manufacturing sector’s efficiency,
productivity and competitiveness. During the GTP II’s second phase the manufacturing
sector is expected to produce meaningful economic growth. The central government
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anticipates that through developing the manufacturing sector significant gains will be
made in the global performance of Ethiopian exports. The T&G sector is one of eight
manufacturing sectors pegged to play a considerable role in transforming the Ethiopian
economy.
The T&G sector has played a significant role throughout the developing world – building
economic growth, social development, and creating new employment opportunities.
Ethiopia offers great potential to not only produce raw material, but also its low wages
and energy costs offer a comparative advantage over other developing countries. Modern
manufacturing proves a recent development in the region of Tigray. The regional
government is relying on sector’s potential for job creation and actively seeking foreign
investment. As a result, five vertically integrated large industries have emerged.
3.2. The Textile & Garment Industry in Tigray
Espoused for its ability to create jobs the T&G sector has steadily become the focus of
the national development strategy. With the full support of numerous human resource
development schemes, the T&G sector holds the potential to generate employment for
skilled and unskilled women throughout Ethiopia (Bureau of T&I, 2014). According
Bureau of Trade, Industry and Urban Development (Bureau T&I) Tigray supplies over
10,000 initiatives in the T&G sector of which five are vertically integrated large
industries, with the remainder relatively small operations.
From the perspective of the central government the T&G sector holds transformative
potential to bolster trade and aid in reaching the nation’s development agenda. The
potential benefits are contingent on the quantity and quality of the exported end product
that is determined by the development of skilled labor and a dependable supply of raw
materials and equipment. As a result, it will be vital to overcome bureaucratic obstacles
both at the level of international supply, while expanding infrastructure to support the
domestic production of raw materials. Lastly, while manufacturing promises an increased
standard of living, T&G provides the lowest wages of all the manufacturing sectors
(Bureau of T&I, 2014).
Manufacturing has proved a huge economic driver in the region of Tigray. The regional
government has implemented an industrial development plan founded on import
substitution, export development and technological transfer (Bureau of T&I, 2014). At
the plan’s conclusion manufacturing is anticipated to play a main role in regional
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development and provide a significant source of employment. Following the national
government’s T&G sector is quickly transforming investment efforts throughout the
region. Currently, Tigray boasts six licensed large-scale and over 10,000 small-scale
T&G endeavours.
Trade unions are viewed as a positive resource, with management supporting new income
generating undertakings conceived by local unions. In the T&G sector unions are united
under the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Union (CETU). Yet, despite institutional
support employees prove reluctant to join trade unions.
In Tigray T&G manufactures are currently producing below capacity. Current challenges
include a lack of experience, skill and knowledge at different levels, subpar quality, a
lack of synthesis between downstream and upstream value chains, poor quality and
dependability of raw materials. The poor productivity of T&G firms in Tigray
corresponds to the shortage of raw materials. For example, notwithstanding the ability to
produce domestic cotton, the entire yield is under the necessary demand of local firms.
While local gins hold the potential to produce around 70,000 tons of cotton, in 2013 total
production was nearly half of capacity. As a result, T&G firms locally operating must
turn to imports to meet their requirements. This results in major delays, as the lead-time
of importing raw materials is quite significant, granting firms less flexibility to respond to
the changing demands and trends of the global market. Despite the large pool of local
labor, the T&G sector is undermined by the absence of a skilled workforce. The absence
of skilled operators, technicians and management directly contributes to lower
productivity and quality – ultimately undermining competitiveness and profitability in the
international arena. In addition, the absence of skilled labor undermines the ability of
local firms to expand into higher levels of the T&G value chain. The need for skilled
labor across all levels undermines growth and profitability, while limiting the potential
gains (ETIDI, 2013).
Another major hurdle is the lack of understanding for quality requirements across the
global market. Due to an absence of basic knowledge regarding practices and market
requirements quality control is often largely ignored. This reflects not only a lack of
awareness from the T&G organizations but is equally a result of low standards across the
national level. Additionally, a key feature of the T&G sector is the rapid adoption of new
technologies – a factor that requires new equipment every decade. As a result the T&G
sector in Tigray fails to expand, because of the lack of resources available to reinvest in
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machinery production is carried out on often antiquated technology. If firms had better
access to financing machinery could be regularly updated – increasing the regions
viability on the global market.
Another main obstacle is the capacity of public institutions to offer support to T&G firms
in Tigray. Federal institutions have inadequate resources to advocate effectively for
policy, offer market research, promote trade, and support management in regional T&G
firms. In addition, the T&G sector in Tigray also lacks coordination between firms, which
results in the inability to vertically integrate the value chain. As a result, the lack of
coordination the sectors influence on the global market.
Perhaps most significant, beyond institutional limitations in Tigray to the T&G sector, the
region lacks a sufficient supply of water. In the dyeing and finishing process water is a
vital ingredient. Currently, only one firm in Tigray has access to an adequate supply of
water. Without addressing the water limitations, growth in Tigray will remain limited.
An additional avenue to maximizing both efficiency and potential in the industry is by
expanding infrastructure. As a land locked country the end product must travel great
lengths to export. Firms average a cost of 4,000 USD to ship a sea container from
Ethiopia to Kenya. In comparison to China, Ethiopian T&G firms spend 60% more in
shipping from Djibouti to the US and European markets. As a result T&G firms in Asia
often prove more competitive than their counterparts in Ethiopia.
3.3. The Mekelle Industrial Park (MIP)
As part of the strategic initiative Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) have been created
throughout the country to promote growth in the T&G sector. For developing countries
IDZs provide important infrastructure, aid investment, promote job growth and increase
exports. IDZs have been shown to increase productivity and overall competitiveness.
Among the benefits of IDZs includes their proximity to airports or ports to enhance
exports, basic infrastructure and duty-free imports of production-related raw materials
and inputs. Additionally, IDZs are appealing to foreign investors and have the full
support of the Ethiopian government.
The Ethiopian government has taken a numerous steps to ensure the success of IDZs, for
example providing essential infrastructures like roads, power, and water. The central
government has provided significant consideration to the various export sectors that
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include the creation of industrial zones – among the various export sectors the T&G
sector takes precedence. IDZs are allocated to foreign investors who mobilize additional
foreign investment. Currently, industrial estates have been granted to investors from
China, Turkey, India, Egypt and Bangladesh.
IDZs are composed of clusters, a group of companies that are not only geographically
linked but constitute similar fields in order to maximize shared resources like markets,
technologies, and skilled labour. Cluster is a promising model in order to promote
industrial development along for small and medium-sized initiatives. The cluster model
not only improves industrial competitiveness, but also has been shown to help ease
poverty by providing sustainable employment, while allowing for sustainable credit.
Mekelle Industrial Park is pegged to become a huge source of regional employment,
while generating foreign currency income, and helping to achieve the nation’s goals of
rapid industrialization. Due to its development Tigray has received a swell of
international private investment. The Mekelle Industrial Park faces the same problems
discussed earlier, including the availability of water and manpower, availability,
infrastructure, and requires broad institutional support. It is also of vital importance that a
climate favorable to business is further developed in order ensure investment. In
conjunction with Mekelle Garment College, Mekelle Industrial Park hopes to train up to
10,000 operators annually. However, this will still be insufficient as the park demands
more skilled labor. Various strategies have been planned in order to assure long-term
employee retention, these include providing employees a sense of ownership as well as
strong relationships between employee and employer.
3.3.1. Challenges facing Industrial Parks
While Industrial Parks hold enormous potential they are not without challenges. One of
the most pervasive problems has proved the shortage of skilled labour. While Ethiopia
has a large trainable workforce yet the T&G sector continues to face a scarcity of skilled
manpower. A variety of skilled labour is required at different stages of the manufacturing
process from operators, technical, supervisors, and managers.
Employees prove under skilled and lacking in basic knowledge due to inadequate training
resources throughout the nation. As a result of inadequate training many investors send
employees to Southeast Asia to build capacity. Additionally resources prove poorly
integrated. For example an integrated channel between the textile industry institute, the
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Ethiopian government, technical, vocational education and training centres, and other
higher education institutes is not in place. As a result many technical, vocational
education and training centres are simply unable to provide an adequate number of
trained manpower. These challenges are impacting overall productivity and
competitiveness.
An additional obstacle is insufficient infrastructure. Facilities are in difficult conditions
including on-going power cuts, unreliable water supply, insufficient telecommunications,
difficult custom procedures and protracted procedures to obtaining appropriate visa and
work permits, and inadequate logistic systems. While the lack of integration between
industrial parks and the city planning limit the potential for necessary of health care,
accommodations and transport for staff. While during the early stages of construction
proper infrastructure is consistently lacking. Another significant obstacle proves
insufficient financial capital through foreign investment, as well as access to foreign
currency. Banks are not providing the necessary financial support.
An additional concern has to do with insufficient salaries, which impacts productivity.
Salary disputes are consistently raised by employees, who cite low wages, yet from the
perspective of the government the low cost of labour is seen as an advantage. As a result
some factories have begun to introduce incentive schemes to improve productivity.
Yet employee turnover continues to be a major obstacle, undermining not only
productivity, but also quality and product deliverability. High turnover also results in the
need to constantly retrain its workforce, leading to greater expense and lead-time.
Employee accommodation proves another challenge, as an insufficient supply of housing
results in workers having to rent high cost accommodations.
Another hurdle concerns construction. For example preliminary designs often fail to
match the final product. In addition industrial parks face difficulties finding quarry sites
and disposal areas during the construction phase. Another important factor has to do with
political stability on a regional and national level.
In order to streamline the integration of industrial parks certifications prove paramount.
These certifications are related to environmental management and compliance,
management, social, productivity, labor, market competition, capacity utilization,
production capability, waste management and other forms of compliance.
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3.4. Socio-economic statistics
This section compiles statistics that were collected at several local government offices in
Tigray. These include data at regional, zone, and municipality levels from a number of
institutions: the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMMIDA), the
Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (BOLSA), the Urban Job Creation and Food
Security Agency, the Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) Agency, and the
Mekelle Industrial Park Development Corporation.
Information was collected on available employment and unemployment figures, number
of graduates, returnees from Middle Eastern countries, textile and garment trainees for
the Mekelle Industrial Park. Data are disaggregated by gender, age and administrative
unit, and are aimed at providing a picture of how many potential employees can serve the
emerging textile and garment industry around Mekelle. The regional and zone statistics
serve to contextualise the data for the area around Mekelle, and to assess potential for
labour migration.
In addition detailed reports were compiled for six wereda surrounding Mekelle
municipality. Each report summarizes key socio-economic statistics, as well as the
discussion of key points with local government officials and other relevant informants.
The decision to pay particular attention to these wereda is motivated by the expectation
that a significant amount of workers serving the textile industry and its expansion will
come from outside Mekelle. The aim was to assess how many employees could be
sourced from secondary towns within a 50 km radius from Mekelle, as well as current
availability of trainings and awareness of the emerging textile industry.
Main findings from the data and information collected are the following:
The number of job seeker in the region is significant (367,916 people). Assuming
that the textile industry targets employees that completed at least Grade 10, the
total figure of approximately 140,000 people is still very significant (see Table 7).
The municipality of Mekelle accounts for only 5,54% of the total number of job
seekers in the Region. The Municipality is also the zone administration with the
lowest number of job seekers (20,408). By implication, it is very likely that the
industry will need to source employees elsewhere in the Region (see Table 7).
Figures available for Mekelle Municipality highlight that the highest number of
job seekers concentrates within the bracket Grade 9-12. As the textile industry
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seeks for Grade 10 and above employees, it can be contended that the needs of the
industry match the supply available in the labour market (see Table 10).
Only about 12% of the trainings to prepare workers to the Mekelle Industrial Park
are conducted with people coming from Mekelle Municipality (13,7% pre-
screening; 12,3% grading; 11,9% soft skills). This highlights that a vast majority
of workers in the textile industry around Mekelle will not be sourced locally but
elsewhere in the Region (see Table 9).
Table 9 and 11 clearly show that women are the main target of trainings. On
average, only about 15% of the total people enrolled in trainings are men, and
about 85% are women. The fact that this ratio is more or less the same across the
region, at zone level, and in each of the sub cities of Mekelle, clearly highlights
that a quota system is implemented in the training system.
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3.4.1. Tigray Regional State statistics
Table 7. Unemployment figures in Tigray disaggregated by education level and Zone administration (2016-17)
Zone Uneducated Grade 1-8 Grade 9-12 TVET Graduates University
Graduates
M F Sum M F Sum M F Sum M F Sum M F Sum
S.East 7110 5005 12115 5640 4459 10099 4525 3683 8208 1198 810 2008 209 77 286
East 4006 3442 7448 12519 7972 20491 13911 10272 24183 1135 881 2016 703 395 1098
West 3549 3853 7402 9015 6275 15290 5315 3714 9029 156 142 298 24 15 39
Central 12388 8572 20960 30633 15420 46053 20161 14811 35427 1218 1025 2243 862 415 1277
N.West 10053 9514 19567 16968 14346 31314 9462 9976 19438 644 663 1307 257 165 422
South 8713 8341 17054 7499 6086 13585 7861 6099 13960 2008 1965 3973 611 303 914
Mekelle 324 592 916 2023 3267 5290 4429 5177 9606 1285 1622 2907 859 830 1689
Total 46143 39319 85462 84297 57825 142122 66119 53732 119851 7644 7108 14572 3525 2200 5725
Zone Total
M F Sum
1 S.East 18686 14034 32720
2 East 32274 22962 55236
3 West 18059 13999 32058
4 Central 65171 40243 105960
5 N.West 37384 34664 72048
6 South 26692 22794 49486
7 Mekelle 8920 11488 20408
Total 207732 160184 367916
Data collected from the SMMIDA regional
office. Figures capture the number of people that
are currently seeking employment. Data are
disaggregated by level of education, gender, and
Zone.
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Table 8. Provisional Unemployment figures for 2017-18 (until May 2017)
Level of Education Male Female Sum
1 B.A. Degree 2289 1828 4117
2 TVET/Diploma 5073 5480 10553
3 Grade 9-12 22169 23883 46052
4 Grade1-8 13475 15389 28864
5 Uneducated 3872 5119 8991
Total Sum 46887 51662 98549
Data collected at the Urban Job Creation & Food Security Agency. The table compiles provisional unemployment data for the Tigray
Region, as they have been collected in the current year (2017/18) up to May 2017.
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Table 9. Trainings for prospective workers in the Mekelle Industrial Park (MIP) (until 2017)
Zone Screening Graduated Soft Skill Training
M F Sum M F Sum M F Sum
1 South East 833 1044 1877 350 401 751 350 401 751
2 East 885 7928 8813 851 5440 6291 851 5134 5985
3 West 1326 4769 6095 1002 3845 4847 996 3703 4699
4 Central 1262 6200 7462 1031 5380 6411 320 4635 4955
5 North West 102 1741 102 96 1638 1734 96 1637 1733
6 South 808 2924 3732 720 2374 3094 720 2388 3108
7 Mekelle 242 4239 4481 200 3061 3261 192 2696 2888
Total Sum 5458 27104 32562 4250 22139 26389 3525 20594 24119
Data collected from the Regional TVET Agency, refers to aggregate figures up to October 2017. The table shows the number of
people that were pre-screened for training, graduated from training, and received specific Soft Skills training in the whole region. The
data is meant to capture availability of workforce to source the Mekelle Industrial Park.
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3.4.2. Mekelle Municipality statistics
Table 10. Unemployment figures in Mekelle Municipality disaggregated by education level and Sub City (2016-17)
Sub City B.A. degree TVET Grade 1-8 Grade 9-12 Uneducated Total
M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T
Hwelti 86 90 176 65 219 284 504 686 1190 612 653 1265 0 0 0 1267 1648 2915
Ayder 53 28 81 61 94 155 161 43 204 563 389 952 0 0 0 838 554 1392
Kedamay
Weyane 155 133 288 187 145 332 200 245 445 444 417 861 0 0 0 986 940 1926
Qwiha 14 21 35 29 43 72 177 286 463 801 681 1482 12 24 36 1033 1055 2088
Semien 290 375 665 428 498 926 606 820 1426 806 1017 1823 0 0 0 2130 2710 4840
Adi Haqi 56 44 100 37 82 119 123 163 286 191 210 401 28 26 54 435 525 960
Hadnet 84 65 149 201 247 448 569 548 1117 713 714 1427 43 69 112 1610 1643 3253
Sum 738 756 1494 1008 1328 2336 2340 2791 5131 4130 4081 8211 83 119 202 8299 9075 17374
Data collected from the BoLSA office. Figures capture the number of people that are currently registered in the employment registry
in Mekelle. Data are disaggregated by level of education, gender, and Sun City administration.
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Table 11. Trainees from Mekelle Municipality to be employed in Mekelle Industrial Park (Until October 2017)
Data collected from the Mekelle SMMIDA office (until October 2017). The table shows the number of people that were pre-screened
for training, graduated from TVET, and received specific Soft Skills training after graduation in Mekelle. The data is meant to capture
availability of workforce to source the Mekelle Industrial Park.
Sub-city
Registered at
Regional SMMIDA
(Data from Mekelle
SMMIDA)
Achieved graduation
Under training in Soft
Skills (after graduation in
the TVETs)
M F Sum M F Sum M F Sum
1 Qwiha 24 397 421 18 305 336 14 318 332
2 Adi Haqi 46 860 906 35 563 598 35 563 598
3 Hawelti 41 701 742 36 568 604 36 568 604
4 Hadnet 66 1003 1069 83 927 1010 64 852 916
5 Ayder 20 468 488 18 379 397 20 329 349
6 Semien 30 571 601 24 429 453 20 403 423
7 K/Weyane 15 239 254 15 197 212 15 196 211
Total 242 4239 4481 229 3368 3610 204 3229 3433
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Table 12. Mekelle Returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
N.o
Sub City
Male
Female
Total
1 Ayder 20 69 89
2 Hadnet 21 30 51
3 Semien 34 81 115
4 Adi Haqi 7 19 26
5 Kuiha 17 36 53
6 Hawelti 38 82 120
7 Kedamay Weyane 10 31 41
Total 147 348 495
Data collected at the BOLSA office in Mekelle. The figures refers to the number of returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that
have been registered in the list compiled by the BOLSA.
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3.4.3. Socio-economic assessment of six wereda surrounding Mekelle municipality
While initially the socio-economic assessment was thought in relation to Mekelle Municipality,
in the course of the research it became clear that the projected expansion of the textile industry in
Mekelle would soon require the sourcing of labour from the surrounding areas. The evidence
presented in the previous paragraph clearly reflects that, also from an institutional perspective,
existing trainings already started targeting potential workers from the neighbouring districts and
the whole region more broadly.
For this reason, the geographic reach of the assessment was expanded to include the rural towns
within a 50 km radius from Mekelle. This section compiles detailed reports for six wereda
surrounding Mekelle municipality. Each report summarizes key socio-economic statistics, as
well as the discussion through semi-structured interviews of key points with local government
officials and other relevant informants.
The decision to pay particular attention to these wereda is motivated by the expectation that a
significant amount of workers serving the textile industry and its expansion will come from
outside Mekelle. The analysis indeed reflects that training activities are currently conducted in
each of the wereda investigated. Another finding is that, like in the area of Mekelle, the textile
industry has generated significant expectations for new job opportunities. Map 2 below shows
the location of the six wereda where data were collected. These wereda are Degua Temben,
Hintallo Wajirat, Enderta, Saharti Samre, Wukro Town, and Kilte Aewlallo.
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Map 2. Wereda targeted by socio-economic assessment around Mekelle
3.4.3.1. Degua Temben
Degua Temben wereda administration is located in Hagereselam town 50 KM far from the
region’s capital Mekelle. The wereda has approximately 24 Tabias, small administration units, of
which three are small cities, Hagresselam, Endamariam and Tukule.
A. Estimated Population and households for 2017/18
Type
Total population Number &
%age
Number of HH
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Number of
Population & HH 63,346 66,461 129,807 23,591 8,120 31,711
% age share 48.8 51.2 100 74.4 25.6 100
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B. Number of Students and schools for 2017/18
Education level
Number of students Number of
school Male Female Total
Elementary school 16,210 15,205 31,415 61
Secondary school 1,932 1,733 3,665 3
High school 365 193 558 1
Total 18,507 17,131 35,638 65
%age share 51.9% 48.1% 100
C. Number of unemployed youth and women registered for 2017
Level of Education
No. of unemployed
Male Female Total
Illiteracte 1,438 1,016 2,454
Elementary school (1-8 Grade) 2,587 1,495 4,082
Secondary school (9-10 Grade) 1,063 843 1,906
High school (11-12 Grade) 32 20 52
Certificate and Diploma 59 47 106
Above Degree graduate 9 2 11
Total 5,188 3,423 8,611
%age share 60.2% 39.8% 100
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D. Number of students enrolled in the TVET Center by sector for 2017/2018
Sector
Number of registered students 2017/18
Male Female Total
Construction 58 26 84
ICT 29 33 62
Accounting (level I and II) 38 39 77
GM 0 31 31
Total 125 129 254
%age share 49.2% 50.8% 100
E. Number of trainees for Mekelle Industrial Park until August 2017 (Grade 8-12)
Item
Number of people registered for
training
Number of people that completed
training
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered and
Trained 250 450 700 21 387 408
% age share 35.7% 64.3% 100 5.1% 94.9% 100
F. Qualitative in depth discussion with stakeholders
Two experts from the wereda Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry office and one team
leader from the wereda Social and Labour Affairs, explained that, due to its labour intensive
nature the textile sector creates a lot of permanent job opportunities for a large number of
unemployed Ethiopians in the wereda/region. The regional government and wereda
administration has been creating public awareness through media (local radio, TV) and by
organizing public conferences about Mekelle Industrial Park. As a result, the community in the
wereda has developed a better understanding of the Park’s ongoing activities. In addition, around
700 young people received a 5 days soft skills and technical training on textile and garment. The
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training created high expectations among the participants and, as it was conducted a while ago,
trainees were now putting pressure on the local TVET about when they would be employed in
the industrial park. There are also many individuals in the wereda who were already engaged in
established industries in Mekelle, like Velocity. These workers were generally happy about their
job in the industry, stable income and skill development, but expressed dissatisfaction regarding
salary which is low in comparison to purchasing power and with the existing labour wages in
Mekelle.
Youth attending the public awareness conferences and based in Mekelle expressed an interest to
work, and are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Mekelle Industrial Park. In general, those
interviewees expressed a preference about finding job in Mekelle rather than seeking it
elsewhere, for example going to Middle Eastern countries.
The respective wereda office representatives such as TVET, Manufacturing, and Youth and
Sport Affairs have experience in organizing and providing soft skill training. During the
discussion, they explained that three experts from TVET and one expert from the Manufacturing
office (SMMID office) have already received three days of practical training from the regional
government on delivering soft skill training. A wereda representative expressed an interest to
host the soft skill training in local towns and agreed to support the local TVET through the
Manufacturing Sector and Youth and Sport Affairs office. They are also looking to have TOT
training, manuals and transportation costs from respective offices.
Contact list
Name Organization Mobile Number
Kindeya Girmay Planning and Finance Office 0923413835
Haftu Yehdego SMMID office 0914202445
Mearg G/yohans SMMID Office 0914861040
Gebretsadik Leake SMMID Office 0914794367
Aregawi H/kiros Social and Labour Affairs 0914037683
Abeba Tadesse Agriculture 0921997944
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3.4.3.2. Hintallo Wajirat
A. Estimated population and HH 2017/18
Type Total population Number of HH
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Number of
Population & HH 89,945 92,820 182,765 30,984 10,869 41,853
%age share 49.2% 50.8% 100 74.0% 26.0% 100
B. Number of enrolled students and school number for the year 2017/18
Education level
Enrolment Number of
schools Male Female Total
Elementary school (1-8) 21,068 20,233 41,301 83
Secondary school (9-10) 3,283 3,337 6,620 4
Preparatory 691 456 1,147 1
Total 25,042 24,026 49,068 88
%age share 51.0% 49.0% 100
C. Number of unemployed people
Level of Education No. of unemployed
Male Female Total
Illiteracy 203 97 300
Elementary school (1-8 Grade ) 467 310 777
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Secondary school (9-10 Grade) 4,033 2,778 6,813
High school (11-12 Grade) 15 11 26
Certificate and Diploma 83 71 153
Above Degree graduate 36 9 45
Total 4,837 3,276 8,114
%age share 59.6% 40.4% 100
D. Number of enrolled students in 2017/2018 in Adigudom TVET center
Sector (level I-IV)
Number of registered students 2017/18
Male Female Total
Auto 76 20 96
Construction 60 7 67
ICT 98 30 128
GMFA 19 8 27
Furniture Making 36 0 36
Electrical 18 64 82
Accounting 49 34 83
Total 356 163 519
%age share 68.6% 31.4% 100
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E. Number of people registered and trained for soft skills in Mekelle Industrial Park in
August 2017 (Grade 8-12)
Number of people registered Number of people trained ***
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered
and Trained 632 1,276
1,908
66 674
740
%age share 33.1% 66.9% 100 8.9% 91.1% 100
*** Trainings were given in 4 wereda towns for 5 days.
F. Qualitative in depth discussion with stakeholders
Discussion was undertaken with 7 representatives from the following offices: TVET (2), Youth
and Sport Office (1), Labour and Social Affairs Office (1), MSE Office (3) and Small and
Medium Manufacturing Industry Development Office (1).
Public awareness about Mekelle Industrial Park was generated through local media, a
conference, and the organization of an exposure visit. As a result of these initiatives there is a
better public understanding that the park will create a large number of jobs due to its labour
intensive nature. It is also expected that the Park will help solve the existing problem of
unemployment for youth and women. More broadly, the textile industry will offer great benefits
by creating job opportunities, technology transfer to local people and technical skill know-how.
During registration and provision of training participants raised the following points. Participants
manifested a deep interest and willingness to work in the textile industry and are willing to
relocate closer to the Industrial park. In the registration format there is a question concerning
interest to permanently move to the Industrial Park, and all the participants answered “YES”.
Nonetheless, questions about salaries and work conditions were raised in a number of occasions.
Local officials raised concerns that their wereda will not be able to benefit from the activities
conducted at the Centre of Excellence in Mekelle. They believed that coverage will be limited if
soft skill training is provided by the Center of Excellence. They believe that the soft skill training
should be provided by the wereda, and they have the willingness to host the training themselves,
led by TVET and the Manufacturing Office with the support of the SME Office, Youth and Sport
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and Labour and Social Affairs Office. It was reported that three experts for TVET and one expert
from the Manufacturing Office have already received three days training organized by the
Regional TVET Bureau in Axum town. Local capacity to deliver trainings would benefit from
additional TOT training, manuals and sharing of experience.
Contacts
S/n Name Organization Mobile Number
1 Tadelu Kindeya Plan and finance office 0914025589
2 Aekelom Eyasu Plan and Finance Office 0914325777
3 Girmay Mekonen TVET 0914500982
4 Tsegay Negasi TVET 0914210113
5 Kelali G/Mikael Youth and Sport office 0914370784
6 Shumuye Gezoe Social and labour affair 0914119917
7 Mekonnen Hagos MSEs office 0914779596
8 Kedir Umer MSEs office 0914112918
8 Yemane Hadera SMMIDA (manufacturing ) office 0914810473
9 Tesfay Heylom MSEs office 0914547018
3.4.3.3. Enderta
A. Estimated population and households for 2017/18
Type Total population Number &
% age
Number of HH
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Population & HH 64,173 64,555 128,728 15,329 12,593 27,922
%age share 49.9% 50.1% 100 54.9% 45.1% 100
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B. Number of enrolled students and school number for 2017/18
Level of Education
Number of enrolment students Number of
school Male Female Total
Elementary school ( 1-8) 12,240 12,204 25,444 55
Secondary school (9-10) 970 1,024 1,994 5
Preparatory 88 35 12
Total 14,298 13,263 27,561 60
%age share 51.9% 48.1% 100
C. Number of unemployed people
Level of Education No. of unemployed by gender
Male Female Total
Illiteracy 625 532 1,157
Elementary school (1-8 Grade ) 1,163 1,236 2,399
Secondary school (9-10 Grade)
662 781 1,443 High school (11-12 Grade)
Certificate and Diploma 154 99 253
Above Degree graduates 48 28 76
Total 2,652 2,676 5,328
%age share 49.8 50.2 100
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D. Number of registered and trained youth and women for Mekelle Industrial Park in
August 2017 ( from Grade 8th to 12 Grade )
Item Number of registered for the training Number of trained
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered
and
Trained 10 560 570 10 299 309
%age share 1.8% 98.2% 3.2% 96.8%
There is no TVET centre in the wereda.
Contact list
S/n Name Organization Mobile Number
1 Desta Hailu Education office 0914760605
2 Woldu Ayele Plan and Finance 0914730319
3 Bemnet Tsegay SMMID office 09148269884
4 Selomon Hagos SMMID office 0974619315
5 Tedros Youth and sport office 0914753989
3.4.3.4. Saharti Samre
A. Estimated population and households for 2017/18
Type Total population Number of households
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Number of
Population & HH 71,508 73,019 144,527 23,845 7,531 31,376
%age share 49.5% 50.5% 100 76.0% 24.0% 100
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B. Number of enrolled students and schools for 2017/18
Education level Number of students enrolled ** Number of schools
Male Female Total
Elementary school ( 1-8) 17,207 16,598 33,805 55
Secondary school (9-10) 1,838 1,918 3,756 3
Preparatory 449 242 691 2
Total 19,494 18,758 38,252 60
%age share 51.0% 49.0% 100
** The TVET college is very new and began teaching in the last academic year.
C. Number of registered unemployed youth and women
Level of Education No. of unemployed ***
Male Female Total
Illiteracy 3,015 1,910 4,925
Elementary school (1-8 Grade ) 1,606 1,290 2,896
Secondary school (9-10 Grade)
910 656 1,566 High school (11-12 Grade)
Certificate and Diploma 75 98 173
Above Degree graduate 85 25 110
Total 5,691 3,979 9,670
%age share 58.9% 41.1% 100
*** Registered unemployed
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D. Number of enrolled students by department for 2017/2018 in Samre TVET collage
Sector
Number of registered students 2017/18
Male Female Total
Construction (Level II and IV) 62 63 115
ICT (Level II and IV) 24 75 99
Accounting (Level IV) 12 11 31
Auto (Level II) 16 13 29
Electrical (Level II) 14 28 42
Furniture (Level II) 7 9 16
Total 135 199 334
%age share 40.4% 59.6% 100
E. Number of people registered and trained for soft skills for Mekelle Industrial Park until
August 2017 (from grade 8-12)
Item Number of people registered**** Number of people trained
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered
and Trained 449 607 1056 31 502 533
%age share 42.5% 57.5% 100 5.8% 94.2% 100
**** Age of registration: - limited to 18-35 years old.
F. Qualitative in depth discussion with stakeholders
The qualitative in-depth discussion was comprised of five participants including the wereda
administrator, the heads of the wereda MSE Office, Labour and Social Affairs Office, and the
TVET Vice Dean and Youth and Sport Office. The discussion was very encouraging and
participants were actively involved.
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A first issue discussed was the definition of unemployed. The following 5 criteria applies to
individuals that register as unemployed, determining their relative position in the rank: 1) the
definition is limited to people in the 18-35 bracket; 2) landless youth and women living in rural
areas; 3) youth without permanent employment; 4) youth without a source of income; 5) students
in school were not taken into consideration.
Local officials explained that awareness about the textile industry was generated among civil
servants and people at different levels through local media, conferences, local TV, newsletters,
and radio since the establishment of the Industry park in Mekelle.
The participants contended that the wereda will be a major beneficiary of the Mekelle Industrial
Park (MIP). The Park is expected to create permanent employment opportunities, acquiring skill
and knowledge training, and technology transfer. The wereda has received a quota from the
regional government to register youth for employment opportunities at MIP and to provide soft
skill training. Accordingly, registration and soft skill training for about 533 was already
successfully given. Registration was limited to 90% and 10% for young women and men,
respectively, as the textile industry has a greater demand for women than men.
The wereda administration and the youth in general expressed concern regarding low wages. The
community, and youth in particular, have expressed high expectations to find permanent jobs in
the industries establishing in Mekelle. Registration and training were conducted in September
2017, and now participants are eager to start working as soon as possible.
Concerning hosting soft skill training, the wereda administration stated clearly that institutes
such as TVET, Manufacturing Office have no other responsibility apart from creating
employment opportunities for the youth and they consider the provision of soft skill training to
be their main mandate. However, they are keen to receiver additional capacity building, printed
materials, manuals, and incentives.
Contacts
Name Organization Mobile Number
Tesfay Yohanes Education Office 09145364762
G/slasia H/Mariam SMMID Office 0914117262
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Teklemedihin G/kiros TVET 0914834174
Tadesse Desta TVET 0914009477
Shishay h/slasia Youth and Sport office 0919432131
Said Salih MSE 0914127828
Bry Hadgu Social and Labour Office 0914023157
Haftum Tsegay Youth and Sport Office 0914834174
Mebrat Bezabeh Wereda Administration 0914726583
3.4.3.5. Wukro Town
A. Estimated population and HH for 2017/18
Type Total population Number of households
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Population & HH 24,320 25,760 50,080 9,802 4,201 14,003
%age share 48.6% 51.4% 100 70.0% 30.0%
B. Number of enrolled students and school for 2017/18
Education level
Number of students Number of
school Male Female Total
Elementary school ( 1-8) 3,610 3,441 7051 7
Secondary school (9-10) 1967
2004
3971
4
Preparatory 444
443
887
1
Total 6,021 5,888 11,909
12
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%age share 50.6% 49.4% 100
C. Number of people unemployed
Level of Education No. of unemployed by gender
Male Female Total
Illiteracy 4 17 21
Elementary school (1-8 Grade ) 84 265 349
Secondary school (9-10 Grade) 457 623 1080
High school (11-12 Grade) 35 65 100
Certificate and Diploma 38 75 113
Above Degree graduate 26 17 43
Total 644 1062 1706
%age share 37.7% 62.3% 100
D. Number of enrolled students by sector in Wukro TVET center for 2017/2018
Sector
Number of registered students
2017/18
Male Female Total
Accounting (Level II & IV) 41 102 143
General Motor Fabrication Assembly (Level II & IV) 63 35 98
Auto (Level II & IV) 75 26 101
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Industrial Electrical machine Drive (Level II & IV) 76 26 102
Barbending (Level II & IV) 77 26 103
Survey (Level II & IV) 38 35 73
Building Electrical Installation (Level II & IV) 31 7 38
Hard Ware & Networking (Level II & IV) 8 45 53
Secretary (Level II & IV) 0 61 61
Sanitary 11 12 23
Masonry (Level II & IV) 6 11 17
Kitchen Operation (Level II ) 27 29 56
Total 453 415 868
%age share 52.2% 47.8% 100
The TVET centre also provides a non-formal training for the duration of 5 days to those who
want to establish their own small businesses in different sector. Accordingly the TVET centre in
Wukro town has trained around 2,538 people from September 2017 to mid of February 2018.
E. Number of people registered and trained in soft skills for Mekelle Industrial Park in
August 2017 (Grade 8-12)
Number of registered people Number of trained people **
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered
and Trained 0 740 740 571 571
%age share 100% 100%
** The training was given by Wukro TVET centre in collaboration with Wereda Small and
Medium Manufacturing Industry office for 5 days
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3.4.3.6. Kilte Awellalo
A. Estimated population and HH for 2017/18
Type Total population Number of households
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Population & HH 66,199 69,302 135,501 21,558 9,438 30,996
%age share 48.9% 51.1% 100 69.6% 30.4% 100
B. Number of enrolled students and schools in 2017/18
Education level
Number of students Number of
schools Male Female Total
Elementary school (1-8) 13771 12,988 26,759 61
Secondary school (9-10) 1,419 1,519 2,938 3
Preparatory 155 62 217 1
Total 15,345 14,569 29,914 65
%age share 51.3% 48.7% 100
C. Number of unemployed youth and women in the wereda
Level of Education No. of unemployed people
Male Female Total
Illiteracy 76 35 111
Elementary school (1-8 Grade ) 912 186 1,098
Secondary school (9-10 Grade) 924 496 1,420
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High school (11-12 Grade) 31 7 38
Certificate and Diploma 9 4 13
Above Degree graduate 2 0 2
Total 1,954 728 2,682
%age share 72.9% 27.1% 100
D. Number of people registered and trained in soft skills for Mekelle Industrial Park
August 2017 (Grade 8-12)
Item Number of people registered Number of people trained
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Registered and
Trained 149 1,097
1,246
49 899
948
%age share 12.0% 88.0% 100 5.2% 94.8% 100
E. Qualitative in depth discussion with stakeholders
The in-depth discussion was carried out with four representatives of Wukro Town and Kilte
Aewlallo wereda experts/coordinators from different offices (Head of Micro and Small
Enterprises Development Office, Representative from Wukro Town TVET Office,
Representative from the Youth and Women Affairs Office and the coordinator of the town’s
Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry Office).
Concerning public awareness in the town and wereda about the textile industry, public
perception is positive and information is circulated through the media and conferences organized
in the wereda. Accordingly, most of the public recognized that the establishment of the textile
industry around Mekelle would help address the problem of youth unemployed in both the
wereda and region.
Meeting participants claimed at this time most of the wereda’s inhabitants have expressed an
interest to work in the textile industry. They believe the textile sector offer better opportunity to
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acquire new basic and specialized technical skills and generate stable income, with the potential
to start their own business with the knowledge and skills acquired. However, concern was
expressed that those currently working in the textile sector are making low salaries, far less than
those employed by small business owners.
Meeting participants also claimed that youth living in the wereda and Wukro were willing to
move to Mekelle to secure permanent employment in Mekelle Industrial park. During orientation
and registration for the Mekelle Industrial Park a majority of the applications were filled within
one week. The wereda has also trained experts (4 experts for three days) and has experience in
delivering soft skill training. Generally speaking, they have an interest and willingness to host
the soft skill training at wereda/town level. However, meeting participants noted that trainings
hosted by the Center of Excellence must be made available to the wereda through the local
TVET.
Contacts
Name Organization Mobile Number
Gatu Tilahun Plan and Finance office 09147832062
Mehari G/slassia Social and Labour affair 0914150011
Aeziab G/medihin Plan and Finance office 0919067603
Amare Desta MSE office 0914005827
Gidey Berhe TVET center 0914733673
Hailu Abrha Youth and Women Affair 0918819248
Temesghen Asmelash SMMID office 0923413164
Abba G/here Yohannes St. Maire College 0911712374
Brhane G/hiwot Youth and sport office 0921587280
Zufan Halefom Education office 0923352441
Brehane Asefa Plan and Finance office 0914091940
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3.5. In-depth interviews with workers and trainees
In this section, the discussion draws on 28 in-depth interviews with workers and trainees
in the T&G industry conducted in the premises of MAA garment factory and in the
Qwiha training centre, where at that time DBL group conducted trainings for workers.
Full transcripts of these interviews have been compiled in Annex 1. Findings from the
interviews have been grouped into themes and discussed in relation to the broader
development trajectory of the T&G in Tigray, as well as socio-economic statistics of
previous sections. Findings have also been contextualised and balanced through other
formal and informal interactions with industry operators, local and regional government
officials, as well as other informants during several fieldwork visits between October
2017 and January 2018.
3.5.1. Thematic analysis
Expectation and aspiration of a better future
The textile industry is regarded as a fundamental step to build a better future for Tigray
and Ethiopia. From a broad perspective industrialization is intrinsically attached to
views of modernity and progress, and for this reason a consistent theme emerging in
interviews is that the current is an important and potentially turning point in the history of
the country. Young trainees and workers regard industry and industrial life as the future
especially in opposition to agriculture and rural life, which is rather seen as the past.
There is therefore a strong developmental ethos attached to the transition to industry. This
mirrors official and institutional discourses about the importance to invest on
industrialization, attract foreign capital, and make the most of the current conjuncture to
create a lasting legacy for future generations, with in mind the objective of achieving
“middle income status” by 2025 outlined in GTP2. As a result of this broader vision it is
common opinion among young workers and trainees that in ten years Mekelle and
Ethiopia “will look like a developed country”. Therefore, the current conjuncture is
characterised by considerable expectations about what industrialization will deliver, and
is associated with broad notions of economic development for Ethiopia.
At the level of the individual, these expectations are more pragmatically translated into
questions about new job and employment opportunities. Interviewees identify in
unemployment and increasing cost of living as the two major challenges that people
currently face. Industrialization is not only about expectations for a better and vague
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future for the country as whole, but it is about tackling important societal challenges, the
main one being youth unemployment. In a context where a growing number of young
people complete Grade 10 education, interviewees contend that today basic education
does no longer automatically translates into jobs. For this reason the textile industry
presents important opportunities for younger generations. Getting a job is attached with
the value about independence and building own families. Getting a job in a modern
setting – this is how many see industry – has the additional value of participating in the
building of the country’s future. Industrial life is regarded as driving a broad-based socio-
economic upliftment of Mekelle, Tigray, and Ethiopia.
Interviews further highlight that the reputation of the textile industry is higher than other
sectors even when these sectors pay more and offer better conditions. One young woman
interviewed decided to leave a better-paid job that in her mind had no prospects, for the
opportunity to become textile worker because “this allows me to grow”. Working in the
industry is seen as an investment in the future. What attracts young workers is to acquire
new skills that they can then use in different ways and pursue further studies. Also
attractive is the perspective of job stability and access to a number of facilities and
services offered by the industry, such as the health clinic.
Transition to industrial life
A main recurrent theme emerging from interviews points at issues related to the transition
to an industrial life. This is a complex process that goes beyond the transfer and
acquisition of new skills, and that entails deeper economic, cultural and social
transformation.
At a basic level, working in the industry raises issues about personal and family time
management. A majority of the prospective workers in the textile industry is not used to
work on a precise time schedule. However, lack of punctuality and absenteeism must be
regarded as practices that are beyond the control and decision of the individual.
Interviews show that main reasons are not because of lack of commitment or laziness.
Workers are late and/or don’t show up to work because they often have to perform a
number of social and cultural obligations that are beyond their own individual decisions.
Young women are for instance expected to discharge a number of tasks in the household
– such as fetching water, taking care of children, preparing food, cleaning, etc. – that are
time-consuming and that cannot always be performed before or after work. In addition,
cultural and religious obligations – such as wedding and funeral ceremonies – play a
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significant role in the social life of communities, and are often prioritized to work.
Trainings that focus on individual time management are likely to not be successful in this
context. Time management is about the role of individual within broader household
economic and reproductive strategies, as well as broader community cultural and social
practices.
A second issue connected to the transition to industrial life has to do with the place of
origin of workers. While so far a majority of the workers and trainees are from Mekelle
or its immediate surroundings, it is clear that given the magnitude of the demand of
workers required by the industry, an increasing number of labourer will be sourced from
neighbouring towns and rural areas. This highlights the tight link between transition to
industry and migration. Evidence collected – as well as a screening of relevant
literature – shows that in the context of industrialization, migratory patterns are very
complex, not only unidirectional from rural to urban areas. Parallel to in-migration from
rural areas, the increasing cost of living in inner urban sites produces out migration to
peri urban areas. The T&G industry in Tigray is precisely developing in peri-urban
settings – such as the area around Qwiha – that have the potentiality to become important
industrial hub, and hence need to host an increasing number of migrant labourers. In the
long term the trend is one that lead to the formation of peri-urban settlements to serve a
growing and consolidated industry. The initial, short-term dynamic is characterised by
frequent movements of people back and forth to their place of origin. The latter dynamic
captures the current stage of industrial development around Mekelle. A good number of
workers and potential employees are unlikely to relocate immediately around industrial
premises, but rather prefer to keep a strong link with their place of origin, partly to
discharge other economic, social, and cultural obligations, partly as a risk diversification
strategy.
A third issue has to do with the transition from agriculture to industry. Interviews of
workers and trainees originating in rural areas highlight that for many households
industry is likely to accelerate existing trends towards the transition to a cash-based
economy. This is crucial because it helps to contextualise the significance of salaried jobs
for workers in the T&G industry. Rural households in Tigray rely on a combination of
agricultural production for internal consumption and for the market. The ratio depends on
many factors, and often on the relative wealth of the household and its ability to
accumulate enough capital for strategic investments in productivity, such as fertilizers
and oxen. Normally, households are wealthy when they are able to sell high value cash
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crops such as teff, and/or have access to irrigated land for fresh vegetables. The important
point emerging from interviews is that, in this context of partial and incomplete
marketization of agricultural production, adding to the household income a salary from
industrial work has significant implications. Rural households are normally large, and one
main priority is risk diversification. While farming is normally dominated by men,
women discharge other activities, which range from domestic tasks to other cash based
works. In a context where the T&G industry is mainly seeking to employ young women,
from a household perspective this constitutes a potential important avenue for risk
diversification. For rural households, receiving a salary – no matter how low – facilitates
capitalization in a context of partial and incomplete transition to cash based economy. In
addition, the fact that women are being sent to work does not substantially alter the
ability of the whole household to farm. From a household perspective industrialization
can therefore considerably improve and sustain the creation of livelihoods.
Making a living
While from a household perspective, especially in those cases where textile workers
come from rural areas, a monetary salary is an important risk diversification strategy, the
extent to which this has a transformative impact for young people approaching the sector
is more difficult to assess. On the one hand industrial work empowers and enfranchise
youth providing more autonomy and power to take decisions. On the other hand, the
entry salary in the textile industry is not enough to allow for a full living. As noted by
many interviewees, working in the textile industry at the current salary level makes sense
only in the context of a broader household strategy. From this perspective, rather than
enfranchising young people, industrial work may reproduce existing dynamics of
dependence and subordination within the household and the broader community.
In a context where the cost of living is increasing sharply, current entry salary in the
industry is barely sufficient to cover immediate necessities. A main cost is house rent.
Assuming that a majority of the workers relocate from elsewhere to seek employment
and, in many cases a full salary is barely sufficient to cover house rent and minimal
subsistence expenses. This has two consequences that clearly emerge from interviews.
First, work in the textile industry does not allow for any form of saving or capital
accumulation unless salary is combined with other activities. Second, none of the
interviewees regarded their job in the industry as a long-term strategy. This despite
considering ‘industry’ and ‘industrialization’ of critical importance for their future and
for the future of Tigray and Ethiopia.
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Trainees and employees regarded the opportunity offered by the textile sector as
short-term strategies through which acquire enough skills and move on with their life.
Interviews highlight that one positive about working in the industry is that it allows time
to enrol on evening classes. Many of the workers that were taking evening classes
considered the work in the industry as a temporary measure that they performed while
completing additional education. This highlights that work in the industry is performed
only because of the lack of alternatives and without particular commitment to the future.
Those interviewees that were not pursuing additional education often also regarded textile
work as a temporary measure. One common aspiration was to open a small business by
making the most of the skills acquired during training and work. Although it is unclear
what kind of business people have in mind, this clearly reflect a short-term attitude
towards industrial work. It is significant how none of the interviewees expressed the will
to settle in the industry permanently. Those workers that have already been working in
the industry for a long time represent a partial exception. But again, it seems that lack of
alternatives, rather than genuine aspiration is the main reason motivating people to stay in
the industry.
The question of salaries seems therefore central in determining short-term and long-term
strategies of workers in the textile industry. One central issue is the lack of alternatives
in a context where the textile sector is likely to play an important role in pushing
employment creation. Youth unemployment is considered by far a more serious concern
than the lack of adequate salaries. This is often synthetized by the slogan “low salary is
better than no jobs”. But there is also more. Precisely because of the good reputation of
industrial life, working in the textile sector is often seen as an investment for the future,
rather than the satisfaction of immediate needs. Many youth see this as a necessary step
to approach adult life and making a better living later on.
A further important theme connected to the question of salaries emerges from interviews
with trainees. When asked about the salary expectation after they complete the training,
some had no answer and just stated that they heard that the initial salary is generally low,
while a vast majority had expectations that far exceed the reality. This reflects several
issues. First, as industrial work is associated to a certain degree of social standing, the
expectation is that salaries reflect such standards. Second, many trainees and workers
believed that even basic training courses entitled them with better salaries. This is also the
reason why some people decided to attend trainings despite having jobs that provided
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them salaries that far exceed those of the industry. The perception is that textile jobs
allowed levels of specialization and skills that could be useful elsewhere to get other jobs,
or to claim a higher salary. More broadly, for many workers and trainees, information
about salaries and their contracts were very obscure. Many workers felt that they were not
entitled to raise questions and pertinent information. In the most extreme cases workers
believed that contravening the stipulation of their contract was punishable by law and by
the government directly.
3.5.2. Women empowerment and gender dynamics in the textile industry
A vast majority of the workers in the textile and garment industry are young women.
Companies that already started production, like Velocity and MAA garment, reported that
women constitute over 80% of the total workforce. This is relevant for our discussion
from many different perspectives. A first dimension is that, while women constitute a
vast majority of employees, these are almost entirely positions of basic operators, which
means the least remunerated jobs. Men are hired for other jobs that either require physical
strength or different levels of specialization. More broadly, at a basic level – and hence
for a majority of the workforce – the division of labour in the textile industry mirrors a
strict division of tasks between women and men. As noted in informal conversation with
trainers the reason why “men are hired for printing while women for sewing is because it
is difficult to keep men sitting all day”. Therefore, one important dimension about the
gender dynamic in the textile industry is that the policy of hiring is based on a normative
approach that attributes a priori roles to women and men. Issues about discipline and
attitude towards an assembly like type of work are important initial determinants of the
gender division in the industry.
To an extent, and in a broader context where youth unemployment is a main challenge,
the fact that the textile industry offers job opportunities mainly to women can be regarded
as progressive. Women are normally in a disadvantaged position vis-à-vis men when it
comes to find employment opportunities and gain degrees of autonomy and
independence. It is undeniable that the textile industry presents young women with this
opportunity. But it is also true that this is to some extent a superficial reading of gender
dynamics in the industry. This perspective takes into account the perspective of
individuals – young women – as if their decisions were independent from the broader
economic, cultural and social context within which they are immersed. As we have noted
above, this is seldom the case of present day Tigray and Ethiopia in the context of the
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transition to industrial life. In particular, there are at least three main dimensions that
affect the ways in which young women are affected by industrial life. These are issues
about salaries, decision making within the household and the community, and migration.
I have noted earlier that the initial salary for basic operators is very low. Anecdotal
evidence suggest that entry salaries can be as little as 800-900 ETB/month, and young
female workers certainly fall in this category when they first start working as basic
operator. Considering the current cost of living this salary does not allow for full
subsistence. This means that for young women it is very difficult – if not impossible – to
start an independent life even when in theory they would be allowed to do so. Evidence
collected suggest that in no case the women interviewed would have been able to sustain
themselves without the direct or indirect support of relatives or other kin. The question
about salaries not sustainable to make an independent living raises questions about the
extent to which jobs in the textile industry provides effective women empowerment. It
seems that in a good number of cases women remain bounded to original patterns of
subordination and dependence with the additional burden of a workload in the industry.
Must not be forgotten that women are also expected to perform a number of tasks in the
household before and after they go to work that sum up to their daily workload regardless
of whether they are employed in the industry or not. These include taking care of
children, fetching water, preparing food, cleaning the household, etc.
In many interviews the question about childcare was an important determinant of the
attitude towards work. Women that could rely on family support for taking care of
children were those who were lucky enough to be based in the surrounding of the factory.
Assuming that a majority of the labour force will be sourced from neighbouring localities
childcare is going to constitute a very serious concerns for women workers. At least three
of the interviews illustrate the matter stake. These are women that in the past had quitted
their job or that were considering quitting in the future in consideration of the fact that the
cost of a baby sitter is sometimes higher than the average salary earned. Evidence
collected highlights that in absence of family network, women with children are likely to
resign because the full cost of a helper at home is similar and sometimes higher than their
salary. The same consideration applies to high levels of absenteeism and punctuality: the
main reason why women were absent from or late for work is connected with the fact that
they had to take care of children or other siblings. This is a particularly significant issue if
we consider that workers will be increasingly sourced from neighbouring towns and
people will leave behind family support.
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A second issue brings into focus questions about decision-making practices. I noted
earlier how in the context of relatively poor households, decisions are very unlikely taken
by individuals, but fall within broader and more complex strategies. To put it simple,
where income generation is not enough to sustain individual livelihoods, decision-making
strategies have the household as the central term of reference. This also explains why
large households are prevalent in these contexts. Risk diversification becomes an
imperative, especially for households that rely on agriculture as a primary source of
living. We have seen how in such a context adding an extra cash income through the
employment of one or more young women can constitute an important risk diversification
strategy. It guarantees some cash to the household, without jeopardizing its ability to
perform the bulk of agricultural activities.
While from a household perspective, especially in those cases where textile workers
come from rural areas, a monetary salary is an important risk diversification strategy, the
extent to which this has a transformative impact for young women approaching the sector
is more controversial. On the one hand industrial work empowers and enfranchise
women, providing more autonomy and power to take autonomous decisions. On the other
hand, entry level salaries make for a sustainable living only in the context of a broader
household strategy. From this perspective, rather than enfranchising young women,
industrial work may reproduce existing dynamics of dependence and subordination
within the household and the broader community.
These issues highlight that in the current context of transition to industrial life income
generating strategies are complex and determined by the overlapping of multiple
rationalities. Young women approaching the industrial life are in midst of complex
decision making processes that are far beyond their own individual will. The household
and the broader community where they live are important determinant of their degree of
commitment to industrial work, whether they will show up in time, and whether they will
have to prioritize other commitments or not. The rationality of young women
approaching the industry should be regarded against these complex decision-making
processes in which aspirations to a better future are balanced against immediate needs, a
changing reality of the local and national economy, as well as existing social and
economic hierarchies that relegate them at the margins.
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Trainings – and workers-companies relationships more broadly – need to take into
account these complex dynamics if a mutually beneficial environment is to be built.
Understanding these issues, and incorporating them in industrial and human resources
planning, can have a positive impact in terms of increased productivity of labour, while
providing young women with the means to build a better future for themselves and the
generations to come.
As emerged in a roundtable discussion with industrial and local government stakeholders,
the current turn to industrialization in Tigray is not about focusing on short-term,
immediate matters, but it is about envisioning the future of Ethiopia. Trainings and
development activities – and the resulting benefit for young women – will be successful
only if they take a long-term perspective. As noted by one of the participants “building a
sustainable future is about thinking how we want to see Mekelle, Tigray and Ethiopia not
in two but in thirty years”.
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4. Project Action Plan
In order to formulate the project’s action plan, during the inception phase the UNIDO
staff has conducted a number of preliminary meetings with local public institutions,
Mekelle University institutes, and private sector actors. Following a PPP methodology,
these preliminary meetings were meant to establish a network stakeholders willing to
contribute to different extents to the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for
training development in Mekelle. The involvement of private sector actors was of
particular importance due to the need to design training programmes that take into
account the requirements of the industry. One of the main gaps identified was indeed that
existing training programmes do not provide workers with skills that meet the demand of
prospective employers. In other words, establishing a network of stakeholders able to
design effective demand-driven trainings was a central undertaking of the inception
phase. While all the major textile and garment industrial producers were approached, the
following table provides a list of those companies who finally committed to participate in
roundtable discussions and to provide a contribution to establish the Centre of Excellence
for skill development. In addition, for the purpose of developing high level trainings for
the top management, the Institute of Science and Technology of Mekelle University was
involved in the discussion and preparation of the training modules.
Organization Contact person Email
H&M Bezait Amare [email protected]
Velocity
Tefetawit Gebremedhin training.eth@vogue-
intl.com
DBL
Libelo Gebreselassie [email protected]
Strathmore Trading
(Ananta Group)
Sanjeeva Iperluma [email protected]
MAA garment
Abebe Girmay [email protected]
College of Science and
Technology (Mekelle
University)
Ashenafi Aregawi [email protected]
For the purpose of the inception phase, the discussion with these private stakeholders – a
majority of whom is in the process of starting their operations, and hence to seek
employable work force – was motivated by two objectives. The first was to collect data
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and evidence of how many workers, and the relative levels of specialization, major actors
in the T&G industry are going seek to employ in the next few years. The second was to
draft training manuals to be adopted in the Centre of Excellence that are formulated based
on the demands of the industry, and that could constitute the basis of the UNIDO
project’s Action Plan.
After individual meetings with public and private stakeholders, two consecutive public-
private roundtables were held in Mekelle in December 2017 and January 2018
respectively. The aim of the first roundtable was to discuss initial commitment of the
companies as well as to address the main gaps affecting the labour relations in the
industry. The discussion was focused on how to design an effective Centre of Excellence
for skill development that would take into account existing shortcomings. The second
roundtable was convened to discuss draft contents of training manuals on the four main
topics about technical skills for basic operators; technical skills for middle management;
training course for top management; training course for soft skill development. The
manuals for each subject are enclosed to this report as Annexes.
Another major undertaking of the inception phase was to find potential institutions
willing, and with the capacity to host the Centre of Excellence. While several location
were visited, the ideal conditions were found at the Mekelle Garment College, the public
TVET for the sector that has also been targeted nationally by the Ministry of Education as
a priority institute were to establish a Centre of Excellence. All the private and public
stakeholders interviewed also agreed that the College potentially offers ideal conditions
for hosting the training centre of the UNIDO project. As discussed in the following
sections, the Centre is endowed with new workshop that are currently idle and that can be
used to establish the Centre of Excellence. The management of the College and all the
relevant government offices expressed enthusiasm in potentially having the UNIDO
Centre of Excellence hosted in the premises of the Mekelle Garment College.
The following sections will present the profile of the Mekelle Garment College (the
recommended site to host the Centre of Excellence), the details addressed at the two PP
roundtables; the profile of the industrial actors involved; recommendations to formulate
one year timeline at the Centre of Excellence; and a tentative list of machinery required to
equip the workshops.
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4.1. Site selection for the Centre of Excellence
During the inception phase other possible locations were considered and investigated to
host the Centre for Excellence. However, after thorough review the Mekelle Garment
College (MGC) was selected for the following reasons:
Strategic Location: MGC is located in Mekelle and is in close proximity to the
Industrial Park where the majority of the Tigray T&G workforce will be based.
Public (TVET) Institution: TVET Institutions are crucial to the overall framework
of national development. Working with public institutions helps facilitate and
strengthen existing TVET centres to provide skill development and job
opportunities for the local workforce.
Facility and Resources: The facility is one of the few in the region capable of
hosting trainings for 300+ trainees at one time and provide classes for the training
of middle and senior management.
Government Approval: The MGC was selected by the Ministry of Education as a
one of the TVET of eligible to become Centre for Excellence.
4.1.1. Mekelle Garment College Profile
Established in 2002, Mekelle Garment College (MGC) did not begin its formal activity as
TVET until 2008. The College has been identified by the Ministry of Education as one of
the priority institutions where to develop a Centre of Excellence. Currently, there are two
courses operating out of the Garment Department: 1) Apparel Design and Technology (4
years) 108 students began enrolment in 2017; 2) Advanced Apparel Production (3 years)-
42 students began enrolment in 2017. Both courses include on-the-job training and
education. The College boasts adequate equipment and facilities. The Garment
Department has 6 workshops, including 1 Pattern Lab, and 5 Garment Technology Labs.
Additionally, MGC has one Production Unit working in collaboration of DBL Group.
MGC has a range of equipment suitable to produce a variety of products. Currently, the
Production Unit professionally manufactures t-shirts for distribution. The facilities have
adequate classrooms to host soft-skill trainings. MGC has adequate industry software,
and while lacking appropriate software standard in the Garment Industry, plan to equip
the facility with new technology. Additionally, the library is currently without internet
access.
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4.1.2. The college current capacity
The table below refers to short-term trainings provided in 2016-2017. Trainings were
conducted for one month on technical skills. The age of the graduates is 18-25 years old.
The aggregate data (1731) refers the current capacity of the college to provide trainings
over the course of one year.
The table below refers to short-term trainings on soft skills (July-August 2017) conducted
in Mekelle. Out of 4200 enrolled in the training, 3802 passed the course and were
selected for the industrial park as potential candidates or employees. The age of the
graduates are from 18-25 years old only as per the need of the industry.
Occupation
Degree
TVET
Certificate
m
F
Tota
l
m
F
Tota
l
m
F
Tota
l
Garment 20 23 43 65 141 206 131 187 318
Total 20 23 43 65 141 206 131 187 318
Occupation
Grade 10
Under Grade 10
Total
m
F
To
tal
m
F
To
tal
m
F
To
tal
Garment 278 823 1101 40 125 165 433 1298 1731
Total 278 823 1101 40 125 165 433 1298 1731
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4.3.3. Information about machineries
SL Machine Type Model Qty Functional Non
Functional
Remark
1 Cutting and spreading table (if
available also in automatic)
0
2 Automatic knifes -band knife 0 0
Round knife 1 1
Stand knife 1 1
3 CAD system for pattern and
layer making
0 0
4 Iron vacuum tables 4 – 5 3
5 4 -5 monitors for the trainings
(projector )
1
6 Industrial single needle lock
stitch sewing machine
(light/medium weight fabric)
211 170 41 motor
and spare
p/m
7 Industrial two needle five and
three thread safty stitch over
lock machine
20 17 03 motor
and spare
p/m
8 Three needle, five thread
cylindrical interlock m/c
3 3
9 Three needle, five thread flat
bed interlock m/c
4 4
10 Industrial double needle lock
stitch machine organize split
needle bar
10 10
11 Two needle feet of the arm 10 10
Occupation
Graduates
Remark
m
F
Tota
l
Basic garment operation 214 3588 3802 All are above
grade 8th
Total 214 3588 3802
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machine
12 Button hole m/c 3 3
13 Bar tacking machine 1 1
14 Industrial single needle lock
stitch button attaching machine
4 3 1 motor and
spare p/m
15 Straight knife cutting machine 1 1 motor and
spare p/m
16 Ironing unit with irons, boards
and movable boiler
3 3
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4.1.4. Master plan of the available workshops A separate version is also available in .dwg format.
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4.2. First Public-Private Roundtable discussion
A Public-Private Roundtable on skill development in the Tigray Textile Sector took place
in Mekelle on December 12th 2018. The roundtable brought together major industrial
partners and public institutions. The industrial partners that attended are the following:
H&M, Velocity, DBL, Strathmore Trading, and MAA garment. Representatives of public
institutions included the ETIDI, the TVET Tigray bureau, the Mekelle Garment College,
the Industrial Park Development Corporation (IPDC), and the Ethiopian Institute of
Technology (EIT) of Mekelle University. A main follow-up to the roundtable was the
organization of a second, more technical roundtable to discuss and formulate skill
development manuals.
The roundtable discussion was organized around two main aspects of skill development
in the T&G industry: soft skills and technical skills. As far as soft skills are concerned all
the stakeholders agreed that this is by far a main challenge hindering the productivity of
the industry. The discussion highlighted that there is need of skill development initiatives
that acquaint the workers with the industrial culture, including how to behave on a factory
setting, time management, industrial psychology, and health & safety regulations. It was
stressed that soft skill initiatives must involve not only basic operators but also line
supervisors, middle management, as well as managers. In addition, it was recognised that
soft skill development cannot be dealt with in isolation from the social and cultural
background of the workers. This also mirrors the evidence of the qualitative assessment
presented in previous sections. Initiatives have to take into account the very context
where workers come from, including issues about transition from agriculture to industrial
life, as well as gender dynamics. For this reason it was suggested that complementary soft
skill development initiatives must be thought in a way that involves the broader
communities where the workers come from. Finally, in order to maximise the benefits of
industrial development in the country there is need to think at soft skill development as
part of a broader effort to build the future of Mekelle, Tigray, and Ethiopia, and not
merely as initiatives that aim to create employment in the short term.
The discussion about technical skill development was equally productive. The general
principle that was agreed upon was about a dual step training, part to be conducted in
the training centre and part directly in the factory. The roundtable recognised the
importance of developing appropriate training manuals effectively. A point that was
stressed with vigour is that the formulation of Curricula must start from the demands and
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be driven by the private sector. It was also acknowledged that effective trainings are
required for both basic operators and middle management. As part of the project, some
activities will necessarily have to focus on Training of Trainers (ToTs). This is
important to assure technology transfer in the long run, and can be achieved by involving
international experts. Another arrangement to assure a continual and effective training
programme is to think at options that involve trainers of the Centre of Excellence to
follow up with training initiatives in the factories.
A separate set of issues was raised for the potential training of managers. It was agreed
upon that initiatives in this field should be framed around synergies between the
University of Mekelle and the Centre of Excellence. Training of managers is strategic for
ensuring the project’s sustainability in the long run, as well as generating lasting change
in the structure of the local and national economy.
All the private sector actors except Velocity expressed an interest to develop both soft
and technical skill training initiatives. Velocity expressed an interest in collaborating in
regard to the soft skills component only. It was agreed upon that the formulation of each
training component is to be led by one or more of the companies, depending on the
interests manifested during discussion. H&M committed to play a broader role of
coordination and intellectual contribution to each of the components.
The table below summarizes the outcome of such discussion:
Soft Skill development Technical Skill
development
Basic Operators Led by Velocity Led by Strathmore Trading
and MAA garment
Middle Management Led by Velocity Led by DBL
Managers Led by Mekelle University and H&M
Each stakeholder committed to prepare a draft of the modules for the segments it is acting
as leader and to send an expert to discuss and finalize contents at the following technical
roundtable.
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List of participants to the roundtable
4.3. Second Public-Private Roundtable discussion
The second technical roundtable was held in Mekelle on January 23rd 2018. The
roundtable brought together major industrial partners, along with representatives of local
government offices, as well as of the national ETIDI and the Technology Institute of
Mekelle University. The discussion was organized along 4 main topics: technical skill
development for basic operators, technical skill development for middle
management, skill development for managers, and soft skill development. In each
case one or more of the stakeholders presented their inputs based on the preference
expressed during the previous roundtable. The discussion focused on draft documents of
manuals to be adopted in the Centre of Excellence, and as the basis for developing the
Textile Project’s action plan and timeline.
Name of participants Organization Tel number
1 Getahun Legesse Mekelle Garment College +251(0)913-380837
2 Akari Yamamoto JICA +251(0)924-484921
3 Delo Benka ETIDI +251(0)911-917308
4 Goitom Gebrekidan MIP +251(0)914-732657
5 Tefetawit Gemedhin Velocity +251(0)914-013349
6 Sawrabe Verma H&M +251(0)966-269350
7 Sanjeeva Ileperuma Strathmore Trading +251(0)975-273283
8 Bezait Amare H&M +251(0)966-269351
9 Dr. Kinfe Tsegay Mekelle university +251(0)914-706550
10 Abraha Haile Mekelle University +251(0)914-756095
11 Meressa Abraha DBL +251(0)944-248024
12 Asfaw Girmay DBL +251(0)914-746730
13 Libelo G/slassie DBL +251(0)914-301963
14 Abebe Girmay MAA Garment +251(0)914-003953
15 Dr. Mulugeta Hadis Tigray TVET +251(0)912-121282
16 Tsegabu Teka UNIDO +251(0)914-705057
17 Filmon lebelo UNIDO +251(0)920-791948
18 Samson Baraki UNIDO +251(0)911-487149
19 Davide Chinigò UNIDO +251(0)929-135705
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On the topic of technical skills for basic operators MAA garment and Strathmore Trading
offered a joint presentation. DBL provided a presentation of a draft document on middle
management. The morning session was concluded by a presentation by the Technology
Institute of Mekelle University on a handbook for the training of managers. The
afternoon session focused on the topic of soft skills development, with presentations
offered by ETIDI, MAA garment, and H&M. Presentations were followed by extensive
group discussion. Comments served the purpose to amend the original draft documents.
Each stakeholder committed to integrate comments into the initial draft and share the
revised documents to the broader group for a final round of feedback.
The following sections will provide a detailed account of the discussion for each of the
four topics. In line with the previous roundtable, a general consensus emerged about
thinking at the Centre of Excellence not as a static training centre, but rather as a
dynamic, flexible, and adaptable platform to provide a wide set of trainings
depending on the demand of the industry and the market of the time. The demand-
driven feature of the modules and the curricula to be offered at the Centre is a main
strength that stakeholders kept emphasising. The Centre is expected to work as a platform
hosting the most innovative ideas about how better to perform trainings at a certain point
of maturity of the industry and the job market in the area of Mekelle, and in Ethiopia
more broadly. The structure of the job market will change over time, and the Centre of
Excellence will have to be able to adapt accordingly by providing trainings that are
effective to meet a rapid pattern of change. While it was general understanding that
currently the needs for basic operators and middle management staff is the most pressing,
the nature of the industry is going to change as more people get trained, and increasing
levels of specialisation and diversification are achieved.
For these reasons, it was general understanding of the stakeholders involved that a
modular approach to the project means that the contents discussed for each training
curriculum will constitute only the initial basis of what will be offered at the Centre
of Excellence. Over time modules and curricula will have to meet the demands of a
changing industry, and/or address specific requirements of specific industrial actors, who
commit to lead on the initiation of a new module. Being a public institute the Mekelle
Garment College will benefit from increased capacity of its staff and its structure.
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List of participants
S/N Name of participants Organization Email address
1 Getahun Legesse Mekelle garment center [email protected]
2 Delo Benka ETIDI [email protected]
3 Genet Measha Tigray ReSMMIDA 0914701013
4 Jennifer Lembe GIZ STEP/EIT-U [email protected]
0929499103
5 Janaka Atapalty STRATHMORE PLC [email protected]
6 Bezait Amare H&M [email protected]
7 Dr. Kinfe Tsegay Mekelle university [email protected]
8 Ashenafi G/kidan MAA Garment [email protected]
0914150680
9 Meressa Abraha DBL Meressa.abraha@dbl-
group.com
10 Libelo G/slassie DBL [email protected]
11 Asfaw Girmay DBL [email protected]
12 Abebe Girmay MAA Garment [email protected]
13 Kedir Abederahaman Tigray TVET [email protected]
0914210152
14 Wondwosen Zeleke H&M [email protected]
0912051537
15 Gebrehiwot Assefa Mekelle Industry Park
16 Davide Chinigo’ UNIDO [email protected]
17 Tsegabu Teka UNIDO [email protected]
4.3.1. Technical skills for basic operators
Mr. Ashenafi G/kidan from MAA garment h presented a draft module of technical skill
for basic operators. MAA garment and STRATHMORE Trading PLC jointly developed
the contents of the presentation. The presentation focused on the following major areas:
Selection criteria For Sewing trainees (using Peg Board Test , Color blindness
and Visual Dexterity)
The contents training discussed include the following:
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a. Naming Sewing Machine Parts
b. Knowledge of the types of Needles, Threads, and Fabrics
c. Knowledge about the Sewing Machine
d. Ergonomics
e. Starting Technical Training with Paper Exercise
f. Understanding Sewing Operation
g. Understanding of Different Stitch Types
h. Sewing Defects
i. Work Area Maintenance
The duration of the training module is estimated in 45 working days.
Comments and Q&A
All the participants of the workshop appreciated the presentation of the draft training
module by MAA garment and STRATHMORE Trading PLC, which was judged of very
good quality. Comments focused on issues that the participants felt were missing, and
that needed to be incorporated. These include the following:
More attention on Occupational Health and Safety;
A closer attention to buyer’s needs;
The participants agreed on the importance to provide technical skill training
side by side with soft skill training. A main outcome of the discussion was that
marking a line between the two is often very difficult, and that they should be
provided in an integrated way, because they are complementary in reality. Issues
raised for instance included awareness about taxation and salaries; conflict
management and absenteeism; team work and behaviour on the assembly line;
Another question addressed in the discussion was about trainings that require
special machineries. This was raised particularly by Strathmore Trading, as the
company project to produce mainly sweaters and suites, and basic workers will
need to be given training on particular machineries. The outcome of the
discussion emphasised that the Centre of Excellence should be built through a
modular approach. This means that while general trainings can be provided to
all the workers, companies that require specific training on specific machineries
can coordinate and lead on the preparation of these modules and provide their
input in terms of human capacity and machinery requirement.
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A modular approach will allow establishing a Centre of Excellence that provides
different operations for workers at basic level. One way to do that is by
establishing advanced modules for basic operators – for instance on pressing,
spreading and cutting – in a way that meets the demand of the industry. H&M
remarked that having different modules in such a way is what makes the
difference between a normal training centre and a Centre of Excellence. To be
successful the Centre of Excellence has to be able to respond to the question not
only about what kind of trainings the industry of the present needs, but also
the industry of the future. Having a long-term perspective means focusing not
only of the priority of the industry today, but on the potential challenges of the
industry of the future.
4.3.2. Technical skills for middle management
The course curriculum for training of middle management was presented by Mr.
Meressa Abraha, DBL group. The manual is organized along 8 modules, each one to be
taken over the course of two weeks (84 hours). The final manual will also include the
equipment list required to run the modules. The manual included the following modules:
Production floor supervisors
Merchandising, Sampling and Planning
Pattern making and CAD system
Marker, Spreading and Cutting
Industrial Engineering- I.E.
Quality control, Lab Test, Washing, Finishing and packing, Ware housing
Maintenance
Common modules (soft skills)
Main points addressed during the presentation are the following: to create job
opportunities immediately after the training; what should be the trainees minimum entry
level; how to source qualified trainers; the media and language of trainings.
Comments and Q&A
The overall feedback over the module was positive, and suggestions for improving the
manual were the following:
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Adding cost consciousness practices; waste management training; Health and
Safety component; a component of mechanical engineering to be added in
maintenance module.
A more general point that was raised is about workforce management, or what
was referred to as “human interaction”. Middle management staff needs critical
leadership skills that allow them to understand and manage the operators they
supervise. For instance, these include conflict management and communication
skills. For this reason, the discussion emphasised that these is need for more
articulated and longer middle management training modules. Leadership and
communication skills are something that cannot be trained over the course of two
weeks only.
The previous point brought the conversation to broader issues about how to
define middle management. The entry level of middle management staff should
require people with a degree form the university and at least one year of work
experience.
The conversation then shifted to how to translate these principles into practice, especially
in relation to the Centre of Excellence. Options suggested are the following:
Trainees can be workers already employed in one company and that are selected
for middle management trainings to be undertaken at the Centre of Excellence;
Another option is to provide for paid in-factory internships of university students
about the work culture of the industry;
Middle management training needs to be tailored on the specific requirement of
each company. For this reason, the Centre of Excellence can provide a more
general module, while specific companies can led more specialised courses. This
once again follows the principle of the modular approach highlighted before.
Another important issue is to create connections with universities that provide courses
on Textile and Garment. It was highlighted that the country has already 6 universities
providing such trainings, although Mekelle University is not yet among these. There is a
course that started to be provided but it is still at an early stage. The Centre of Excellence
should favour the integration of modules for internship programmes with the
universities that run garment programmes.
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The question about where to source prospective trainees raised the broader point about
how to establish connections between the Centre of Excellence and other institutions. The
following suggestions were provided:
Establish links with the Career Centre of Mekelle University;
Linking the Centre of Excellence with the web platform EthioJobs;
Disseminate information about the Centre of Excellence through job fairs;
Strengthening the connection with other donors and international organizations
working on similar projects such as GIZ, DFID, World Bank, etc.;
ETIDI runs a national database of graduates and a placement programme
from textile and garment institutes that can be shared with the Centre of
Excellence.
A further point that was raised was again about the Centre of Excellence being informed
by a modular approach. While general modules can be provided at the Centre of
Excellence, product specific modules that need specific machineries/skills will be
provided in each factory.
A final point discussed is about what kind of certification trainees will obtain upon
attending courses at the Centre of Excellence. It was agreed that while in the long run
efforts to streamline curricula into the public system (TVET) will be pursued, in the short
term the Centre can issue Private Certification that draw on the reputation of the
consortium of companies and institutions running it.
4.3.3. Training for managers
A draft module for the training of managers was prepared and presented by Dr. Kinfe
Tsegay from the Technology Institute of Mekelle University. The draft module
presentation focused on the following major topics:
Broad introduction and global trends of the textile sector
Key challenges of the sector in Ethiopia
Possible solution and directions
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Key skills for managers include strategic thinking, collaboration, emotional
intelligence, critical thinking, communication, coaching, making values visible
and viral.
The proposed modules are the following:
a. Problem solving and decision making
b. Team building and management
c. Negotiation skills
d. Strategic leadership
e. Project and risk management
f. Marketing management
g. Quality management
h. Time and self-management
Training schedule (estimated 18 days for all modules)
Comments and Q&A
While the presentation was well received by participants, the discussion focused on
questions about the duration of training, target trainees and trainers, and synergies
between the Centre of Excellence, University and the private sector. Once central point is
to design trainings that make use of non-traditional, interactive methodologies, such as
approaches based on case studies, exposure sharing, scenario planning, and sharing of
experiences. Participants felt that managers require trainings also on issues about
customer handling and global scenario of the sector. Discussion focused on the following
issues:
Trainings should focus on practices of knowledge transfer and experience
sharing. A central question for the training of managers is to make the most of the
expertise of international companies that have a global outlook of the sector. One
connected question is to address with trainings is the cultural gap between locals
and foreigners. Trainings should address questions about understanding of
different cultures on communication and interpersonal skills.
Another question addressed is about who should, and has the capacity, to deliver
trainings for managers. The debate here was between those who privileged
trainers with more practical experience of management in the sector (this view
was mainly supported by the private sector) and trainers with theoretical
experience. It was agreed that an ideal course should involve a combination of
both.
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General trainings can be provided in collaboration with the university, other
trainings by invited guests sourced through the international companies. The
general understanding is that there should be a tandem between academics and
practitioners in the provision of trainings for managers.
Connected is the question about budget and costs of high-level trainings. As
international experts might require significant budget, one option is to make the
most of international experts that pay visit to international companies for other
business reasons and ask them to provide a training session while in the country.
Expensive is also buying time of managers for further training. For instance it
was noted that no company could afford to send a top manager for training for 18
consecutive days. For this reason, trainings should be flexible and organized in the
form of seminars that will take place once a certain number of people enroll. More
broadly, the question of time requires a modular organization of trainings. For
instance, it was emphasised the importance of providing trainings to staff already
employed to update and upgrade skills and knowledge over specific topics.
One other question raised is whether trainings for managers are a task that goes
beyond the scope of the Centre of Excellence. In such regard, the role of the
Centre should be to facilitate and coordinate trainings that are mainly provided by
the University and Private companies.
Modules for the training of managers are perhaps those that require most
flexibility and be delivered on a demand-driven basis. Requirements need to be
set by the industry, and will change over time depending on the state of maturity
of the sector.
4.3.4. Soft skills training
The soft skill training component was presented by Mr. Delo Benka from ETIDI, Mr.
Abebe Girmay from MAA garment, and Ms. Bezait Amare from H&M.
Mr. Delo presented the soft skill training manual developed by ETIDI which is currently
used for trainings of workers in Hawassa Industrial Park. The handbook encompasses 7
modules:
Personality Development
Group dynamics and Team Building
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Value of Time and Time Management
Personal Finance
Communication in Organization
Value and workplace Ethics
Workplace safety and Hygiene
Mr. Abebe addressed questions of soft skills training from the perspective of existing
legislation, and the labour law more specifically. The presentation focused on the
following points:
Definition of different terms (work rules and working conditions)
Contract of employment
Probation period (45 days)
Obligation of the parties
Unlawful activities
Termination of contract of employment
Minimum work conditions
Special leaves
Occupational safety & health
Additional information HIV/AIDS issues, personal hygiene
Ms. Bezait presented a less conventional approach to soft skills training, whose rationale
is that soft skills are about an intercultural exchange that entails several layers of
social mediation. Conventional soft skills trainings are about changing the mentality of
people in order to prepare them to work in the factory. The approach suggested by H&M
is that soft skills trainings should take into account the cultural background, as well as the
social and economic baseline of the communities where prospective workers come from.
For this reason Ms Bezait proposed an approach to training whereby the “Centre of
Excellence goes to the communities” and not only vice versa. The starting point was
expressed through the following diagram, explaining the tripartite interaction between the
Industry, the Centre of Excellence and the Local Communities where workers are
sources:
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Based on past experiences of H&M, the rationale of the suggested approach is to design
trainings whereby the Centre of Excellence performs trainings directly in the
communities where a majority of workers come from, and finds culturally appropriated
ways to perform soft skills trainings, that take into account local social and economic
specificities. From a practical perspective this approach can be implemented through the
following:
Gatekeepers approach. Focus on some influential people in the workforce.
They are targeted with trainings and then they are asked to share their experience
with the rest of workers (for instance what does it means to be punctual and to
work on an assembly line). These are neither managers nor supervisors; these are
normal workers sharing their experience. They are selected on the basis of their
leadership and charismatic skills as potential social/cultural influencer of other
workers.
Mobile trainings. Some general training can be performed directly in the
communities where a majority of workers come from. Mobile trainings can tackle
the problem about wrongful and incorrect information about the industry that are
sourced by word of mouth.
Voluntary Social Engagement. This approach stems from understanding the
engagement of local communities as based on their social and economic needs,
rather than based on the needs of the industry. Very often workers do not respect
basi behavioural rules – such as punctuality and absenteeism – because of other
social, cultural, and economic obligations they have to perform in their own
communities. This is particularly significant for women, who within their
household are expected to fulfil a number of other tasks, including domestic work,
childcare, etc. Voluntary Social Engagement approach is based on the premises to
discuss these issues and potential solution with the local communities directly, as
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a way to find socially acceptable solutions that take into account the needs of the
industry and of the local communities.
Using Media. Information about the industry can be disseminated through local
media. Radio is the most accessible and common example. The goal is to reach
out the communities through selected awareness campaigns about the implications
of the industrial life.
Comments and Q&A
The discussion focused on the following points:
Soft skills training should be applied at all levels of the career ladder, and planned
as part of an integrated approach to Career Development for workers.
Soft skills training needs to take into account general laws and legislations as well
as policies of the specific factories.
For managers and middle management, questions about emotional intelligence,
should be central components of soft skills trainings
The manual presented by ETIDI is a good starting point for providing general soft
skills training courses at the Centre of Excellence. Nonetheless, a “classroom
approach” to training is not enough. It is important to think at soft skills training
by going beyond traditional methods. Non-conventional methodologies, such as
those suggested by H&M and by Mekelle University for managers, are equally
important. One other example is having motivational talks.
Soft skills development is a learning process that entails a mutual understanding
between the industry and the society. If it is necessary for the private sector that
the culture of the people adapt to the requirement of industrial life, this should be
done in such a way that take into consideration the cultural, social and economic
needs of local communities. This means that the private sectors should adapt and
tailor strategies of labour enrolment to the needs and requirement of society. Soft
skills training operates on two parallel levels: changing the culture of people,
and adapting to the culture of the people.
One approach to “change the culture of the private sector” is designing specific
soft skills trainings for middle management and managers that encompass
strategies to manage the workforce in a culturally appropriate manner.
Soft skills trainings have to take into account broader structural issues at play in
the Ethiopian society, such as the transition from agriculture to industrial life.
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Strong relationship between the government and the private sector is very
important to provide sound soft skills trainings.
4.4. Profile of the stakeholders engaged to establish the Centre of Excellence
Following a Public-Private Partnership (PPPs) methodology, during the inception phase
the UNIDO staff engaged with a number of stakeholders at different levels. In addition to
the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in Ethiopia, these include:
Governmental institutions at Federal and Local level: Ministry of Industry,
Ethiopia Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI), Tigray Trade and
Industry Bureau, Tigray TVET Bureau, Tigray Small and Medium Manufacturing
Industry Development Agency (SMMIDA), Mekelle BOLSA, Mekelle Garment
College, Mekelle Urban Job Creation and Food Security Bureau, Ethiopian
Institute of Science and Technology of Mekelle University.
Private sector actors: Ethiopia Textile and Garment Manufacturer's Association
(ETGAMA), Mekelle Industrial Park Development Corporation (IPDC), H&M,
Velocity, DBL, Strathmore Trading PLC, MAA Garment, Calzedonia, Decathlon,
Enterprise Partners (EP).
International Organizations and NGOs: European Union delegation, German
development cooperation (GIZ), International Labour Organization (ILO), UK
development cooperation (DFID), Japanese development cooperation (JICA),
Italian Trade Agency, Don Bosco, Rainbow4Children, Volontariato
Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS).
While formal and informal discussion took place with all these actors, the following
sections provide details of those stakeholders that actively participated in the two
roundtable discussions for the formulation of the project’s action plan and the curricula
for the Centre of Excellence. The Mekelle Garment College is not included here because
details have been provided in earlier sections. The following sections pay particular
attention to the private sector actors involved.
The private companies were asked to provide details about their employment plan for the
coming years, as well as information about trainings. Taking the labour demand of the
four big companies involved in the roundtable discussions, the industry is expected to
hire over 30,000 new workers in the next few years. This is a very conservative figure
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because it accounts for a non-exhaustive list of the textile and garment actors currently or
in the process of operating around Mekelle, and does not include potentially connected
and spin-off sectors. This clearly highlights the criticality and timeliness of UNIDO
intervention.
4.4.1. ETIDI
The Ethiopia Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI) is a key partner in
envisioning and developing the Centre of Excellence in Mekelle. The mission and
expertise of the Institute makes it the natural and ideal governmental partner to
implement the UNIDO project, together and in close collaboration with the Ministry of
Industry. In particular, the expertise and the national reach of ETIDI is critically
important to develop a Centre of Excellence that become a Best Practice to implement
elsewhere in the country. ETIDI staff contributed substantially to the discussion during
the two public-private roundtables in Mekelle, and was instrumental in providing the
project with a soft skill training manual. At a broader level, the Director of the Institute,
Ato Seleshi Lemma, played an invaluable advisory role during periodical meetings that
took place at the Ministry of Industry, at the presence of his Excellency Ato Bogale
Felleke.
ETIDI was established by the Ethiopian Council of Ministers in 2010 in an effort to
achieve the Ethiopian Government’s five year strategic Growth and Transformation Plan
(GTP1). The Institute is meant to provide continuous support to the development of the
T&G sector, which is a central component in Ethiopia’s Industrial Development Strategy.
ETIDI is instrumental in facilitating the large-scale development of infrastructure to
increase competiveness in the T&G sector. By supporting public and private partnerships
ETIDI establishes and executes strategic initiatives to stimulate the cotton, textile and
apparel industries in Ethiopia. ETIDI helps build international collaboration for capacity
building in order to establish Ethiopia as an international standard in the T&G industry.
ETIDI’s mandate is far reaching and includes promoting foreign investment, secure
workforce training, research and development and offering market support. The Institute
aims to better facilitate the global competitiveness of the Ethiopian textile industry.
Overall the Institute conducts market studies and circulates data, advises investors,
provides technical support to enterprises, offers services for quality monitoring, helps
streamline waste-water treatment, in addition to establishing growth in the textile and
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garment sector. Due to the intensive labour requirements of the T&C sector the ETIDI is
tasked with creating a skilled workforce by providing trainings and education.
Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Seleshi Lemma [email protected] +251(0)114391990
Yared Mesfin [email protected] +251(0)911466981
Delo Benka [email protected] +251(0)911917308
4.4.2. H&M
H&M has been instrumental in developing and formulating the UNIDO project from the
very beginning. Initial contact with the company were taken by UNIDO at the time of the
inception phase for the SINCE project. At that time already emerged the willingness in
embarking on a project to support the development of skills for the growing industry. A
more formal meeting between, among others, H&M, UNIDO, and GIZ was held in
Mekelle in February 2017. The meeting highlighted the need to develop training
programmes at different levels (e.g. basic operators, middle management, managers)
through strategic partnerships between industrial actors, government institutions, and
international organizations. Since then H&M has been a central pillar of the UNIDO
project, also for its ability to converge the interest of a number of production companies
in the area of Mekelle.
H&M offered support to coordinate training activities at different levels, and its staff
played a very important role during the two roundtables organized in December 2017 and
January 2018. H&M staff was particularly committed to design non-conventional soft
skill training activities that take into account the deeper cultural and social underpinnings
of trainees and prospective workers in the industry. Details about non-conventional skill
training are discussed in the Recommendation section of this Report.
The Swedish retailor has invested in the Ethiopian garment industry, sourcing products
from numerous Ethiopian manufacturers including DBL and MAA garment. H&M has
secured multiple production sources in Ethiopia and works with numerous independent
suppliers. With 80% of production sourced by Asian producers the incorporation of
Ethiopia marks an important supply shift for the retailor. Of the producers operating out
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of Ethiopia H&M has expressed the firmest commitment to DBL, committing to
becoming a long-term buyer and supporting the factor with knowledge in sustainable
textile production.
Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Bezait Amare [email protected] +251(0)947690668
Sawrabe Verma [email protected] +251(0)966269350
Pierre Borjesson [email protected] +251(0)966269349
4.4.3. DBL
DBL has been instrumental to the inception phase of the UNIDO project in a number of
regards. The company led the development of a training curriculum for middle
management and the staff made a substantial contribution to both roundtable discussions.
The manual has been included as annex to this Report. In addition, DBL was instrumental
in facilitating UNIDO staff to conduct interviews with trainees at the Qwiha training
centre for the in-depth qualitative assessment.
DBL is an international Textile & Garment group with headquarters in Bangladesh. In
Ethiopia the Group committed an investment of 100 million USD.6 At the time of this
writing the Group was not yet operational in Ethiopia. DBL is planning to complete the
construction of the factory in the course of 2018, and operations are planned over two
phases. Phase 1 encompasses operations on Ready Made Garment (RMG), Printing and
Accessory. Phase 2 will add Dyeing and Knitting to the production cycle. When the
company will reach full capacity the number of employees will reach approximately
12,000. Below are reported details about the hiring plan for the next three years.
Currently employed by DBL
Age Gender Education
Male Female MSC/MBA/
BSC/BA
Diploma
(Technical
School &
12th /10th
Grade
complete
6 http://www.thedailystar.net/business/dbl-group-set-100m-garment-factory-ethiopia-1229974
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College
Diploma)
and below
20-43 24 12 11 4 11
Three years workforce plans
Over the course of the next three years the company plans to employ approximately 5,300
new workers.
1st Phase
RMG Printing Accessory
2551 1043 310
1st phase disaggregated by qualification
Unit Managers Middle
Managers
Other staffs Operator
Printing 9 5 22 203
RMG 35 41 69 2406
Accessory 18 28 23 974
2nd Phase
Dyeing Knitting
926 471
2nd phase disaggregated by qualification
Unit Managers Middle
Managers
Other staffs Operator
Dyeing 17 21 65 823
Knitting 4 8 62 377
Training plan
Since June 2017 DBL is providing trainings for Sewing and Printing operators in
collaboration with the Mekelle Garment College at the Qwiha sub city workshop, and by
December 2017, 920 sewing & printing operators have been trained.
Further details about the training of the workforce for the next year are the following:
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DBL developed course Curriculum and schedule for Knitwear Industry Garments and
Machine Operation. The duration of this course is 192 Hours (1 Month and 24 days).
DBL is committed to provide a substantial contribution to the Centre of Excellence. DBL
suggests that “experienced Sewing trainers and technicians, Garmenting, textile and
Industrial engineers are required to run the Centre of Excellence. And, DBL industries
will be in continuous relation in developing the training curriculum and supporting Skill
Full Trainer at the right time when needed.”
The company expectation “is that the Centre of Excellence will include all facilities
needed so that all graduated trainees are able to have thorough knowledge on textile and
textile materials, machinery used in the Knitwear, Machine control, identified relevant
trims and accessories- fabrics, needle types, stitch types, garments process, work
knowledge, self-assessment, sewing different process and styles of knit garments”.
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Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Mahmudul Hasan [email protected] +251(0)936011709
Libelo Gebreselassie [email protected] +251(0)914301963
Meressa Abraha [email protected] +251(0)944-248024
Asfaw Girmay [email protected] +251(0)914-746730
4.4.4. Strathmore
Although Strathmore started to establish its presence in Mekelle during the inception
phase of the project, the company committed to participate to the two roundtables
organized in December and January. Strathmore provided a substantial contribution to the
formulation of the technical skills for basic operators manual. The manual has been
included as annex to this Report. The company has a deep interest in skill training, and
committed to support the establishment of the Centre of Excellence.
Strathmore is a controlled company of the Bangladesh based Ananta Group. Strathmore
is the only company involved in the UNIDO project that will operate inside the premises
of the Mekelle Industrial Park. The company rents over 70% of the total space currently
available in the Industrial Park (8 of the 12 sheds). To set up its state-of-the-art
manufacturing project in Mekelle Industrial Park, Strathmore committed an investment of
approximately 35 million USD for two product categories: Mens Suits and Sweaters
(Fine and Coarse Gauge).
Reasons that made the company opt for operating inside the Industrial Park, rather than
building their own premises are the following: the park is considered a world-class
sustainable eco-park ready for ‘plug & play’; provision of essential infrastructure,
including dedicated power substations and centralized waste treatment facilities (zero
liquid discharge); the Park is operational by Jan 2018 while building a new factory takes
time; building lease conditions are very advantageous (15+ years at nominal rates,
starting at 2 USD/sqm); additional land is also potentially available for lease within the
park to construct own building.
Strathmore plans to hire over 10,000 workers in the next three years. For sweater
production, there are 12 different segments of technical training that are required, and the
company itself is planning to have 82 trainers to train 1000 trainees at a time. The blazer
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production will require 50 trainers that will train 500 workers at a time. Training manuals
for both segments are already available. The company plans to give 45 days training on
soft skills and then complete the rest of the training in-house or on specific training
facilities at the Centre of Excellence. In this regard one option discussed is that the
company provides specific machineries for its specific training requirements. The
company can also provide the trainers for special operation like Linking and Knitting.
The blazer training requires 30 days training for basic operations, and additional 40 days
training for specialized operations.
Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Sanjeeva Ileperuma [email protected] +251(0)975-273283
Janaka Atapalty [email protected] +251(0)966674106
4.4.5. Velocity
Velocity expressed a substantial interest in the UNIDO project in relation to developing
the soft skill training component. As explained by the training manager, high levels of
turnover, punctuality, and absenteeism point at questions about how to better implement
soft skill trainings. The company provides technical skill training directly in factory.
A subsidiary of Dubai-based Vogue International Agency, Velocity officially launched
their Mekelle operation in 2016. The factory predominately manufactures jeans and knit
garments, supplying for companies like Levi-Strauss, Vanity Fair, Zara, H&M and Under
Amour. Fully automated the Velocity operation touts a sustainable production model that
relies on wind and LED light, as well as claiming its own water treatment facilities on-
site.
Velocity operation currently employs around 1250 women and 198 men. Workers are
required to have achieved at least Grade 8 education, and be at least 18 years old. So far
the company has tried to hire people from Mekelle and its immediate surroundings.
Currently the turnover rate is 2% of the overall workforce per month, while absenteeism
is 8.5% per month. The employment target of the factory is 10,000 workers, and hiring
will be required in the next few years to reach this figure. Of these 95% of will be
women. The company is currently completing the second factory workshop that will
enable to significantly increase the production.
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Trainings are currently operated as follows. As the company recruits new joining
members, workers are trained for one month on both soft skill & hard skill. Further
trainings are given directly on the assembly line. Velocity is interested in trainees from
the Centre of Excellence who have been trained on soft skills and that can then be trained
further in-house on hard skills.
Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Tefetawit Gebremedhin [email protected] +251(0)914013349
Ephrem Haile hrmanager01.eth@vogue-
intl.com
+251(0)930284776
Charles Smith [email protected] +251(0)930466870
4.4.6. MAA garment
MAA garment has been extremely important to the inception phase of the UNIDO
project. Together with Strathmore Trading the company led the development of a training
curriculum for technical skills for basic operators, and the staff made a substantial
contribution to both roundtable discussions. The manual has been included as annex to
this Report. The HR manager also provided a very important document/presentation on
industrial relations and the labour law, which is included as attachment to this report for
the soft skills training component. In addition, MAA Garment was instrumental in
facilitating UNIDO staff to conduct interviews with workers for the in-depth qualitative
assessment.
Established in 2004, MAA Garment is one of the largest fully integrated textile facilities
operating in the region of Mekelle. MAA is entirely privately and Ethiopian owned. The
operation includes, spinning, knitting, dyeing, cutting, sewing, and packaging of finished
goods. The project’s success has allowed for expansion into woven garments as well.
Ninety percent of the goods are exported into the foreign market, producing around 4.2
million pieces for distribution with total sales of 7 million (USD). Clients include H&M
and Tesco/Primark.
While the company is well established and the bulk of the workforce is operational and
receives periodical trainings, MAA garment has the objective to expand current
operations. The plan is to increase its knit capacity from 9.6 tons to 20 tons per day and to
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build a new plant for woven items.7 In addition the staff explained that periodically new
hiring are required to replace workers that resign. Records of the company show that this
requires hiring 500 new workers every year. Current information about the workforce
are reported in the following tables:
Workforce by age and Sex
S/N Age Manpower Total
M F
1 18-24 190 502 692
2 25-30 179 512 691
3 31 & above 98 168 266
Total 1.649
Workforce by Education and Sex
S/N Education Manpower Total
M F
1 < 8th Grade 21 103 124
2 9th - 12th Grade 261 963 1224
3 10+1 - 10+4 139 67 206
4 Degree & above 68 27 95
Total 1.649
Workforce by Age and Education
S/
N
Age Education Total
< 8th grade 9th - 12th 10+1 - 10+4 Degree &
above
1 18-24 23 618 63 15 719
2 25-30 53 509 79 66 707
3 31 &
above
48 97 64 14 223
Total 124 1224 206 95 1.649
7 https://www.just-style.com/analysis/ethiopia-textile-and-apparel-investments-accelerate_id126505.aspx
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Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Fassil Taddesse [email protected] +251(0)911200242
Abebe Girmay [email protected] +251(0)914-003953
Ashenafi G/kidan [email protected] +251(0)914150680
4.4.7. Ethiopian Institute of Science and Technology
The Ethiopian Institute of Science and Technology was initially contacted to discuss
broader issues about potential synergies between Mekelle University and the Centre of
Excellence. After some very productive conversation, staff members were invited to
attend the roundtable discussions. The Institute developed a detailed curriculum for the
training of managers that was very well received by the other public and private
stakeholders. The manual has been included as annex to this Report.
Personnel contacted during the inception phase:
Dr. Kinfe Tsegay [email protected] +251(0)914706550
Abraha Haile [email protected] +251(0)914756095
4.4.8. Local Government Offices
Local government offices at both Regional and Municipal levels contributed significantly
to the discussion during the two roundtables. The project has been welcomed by all the
government stakeholders approached, who in turn, provided substantial support through
sharing of statistical data and other information that have been used to compile the socio-
economic assessment of this Report. UNIDO staff noticed that behind the nascent textile
industry there is an important and rather effective teamwork between different local
government offices, the Mekelle Garment College, and the Mekelle Industrial Park
Development Corporation.
In a context where the textile sector is going to require substantial infrastructural
development and hire thousands of workers in the next few years, coordination between
local government offices is essential to maximise the societal impacts of industrialization,
while minimizing its social and environmental costs. As far as training programmes are
concerned, the productive sourcing of the workforce within the framing of the Centre of
Excellence is an effort that requires maximising the capacity of local institutions. UNIDO
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is committed to keep strengthening the collaboration with local government offices as
ultimately the success and long-term sustainability of the textile project and the Centre of
Excellence depends upon such effort.
The local government offices that were approached are the following:
Trade and Industry
Bureau
Addis Alem
Balema
[email protected] +251(0)342400351
Eyasu
Gebremariam
[email protected] +251(0)978450003
TVET Tigray bureau Dr Mulugeta Hadis
Weldu
[email protected] +251(0)912121282
SMMIDA Tilahun Tarke
Weldu
[email protected] +251(0)912060652
BOLSA
Ato Assefa
Tegegne
[email protected] +251(0)914763116
Ato Assefa Hadush [email protected]
Urban Job Creation
and Food Security
Kahsay Tesfay [email protected] +251(0)914747737
4.4.9. Coordination with Development Stakeholders
The rapid expansion of the Textile and Garment industry in Tigray – and in Ethiopia
more broadly – has attracted a significant deal of attention in the donor community. Many
institutional donors, development agencies, and non-governmental organizations today
focus on projects to support the industrial ambition of the country and, at the same time,
mitigating its potential adverse social and environmental effects. The socio-economic
assessment conducted in this Report highlights that the area around Mekelle is going to
be affected by significant economic, social, and cultural transformations in the coming
years. Particular attention needs to be paid to the peri-urban areas where the textile
industry is currently rooting, and the connected migratory fluxes from both the
countryside and the inner city. Precisely because of the extremely rapid the pace of such
transformations, the federal and local government requires institutional support on a wide
range of topics.
While the UNIDO project focuses on capacity development at different levels, such
intervention does not take place in a vacuum. Several other interventions are currently
under implementation, or are likely to kick off soon. For this reason, there is a significant
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need of coordination between international donors, agencies, and NGOs that operate at
the same time to support the textile sector in Tigray. This is to avoid overlapping
interventions and to maximise the collective developmental impact of the initiatives
altogether. Need for coordination also emerged in the recommendations received during a
meeting with the European Union Delegation in Addis Ababa in November 2017.
During the inception phase the UNIDO staff has conducted several coordination meetings
with organization that to different degrees and in different ways work on issues related
connected with the Textile industry in Tigray. A main outcome of all these meeting is
that there is urgent need to convene a coordination roundtable that put together all the
different development stakeholders currently or in the process of implementing projects
on the textile sector in Tigray. Stakeholders that were contacted and that were identified
as to share an interest on the textile and garment sector in Tigray – and hence to
potentially involve in a coordination table – are the following:
GIZ Ulrich Plein [email protected] +251(0)911949895
Elisaveta Kostova [email protected] +251(0)910121800
ILO Kidist Chala [email protected] +251(0)911618076
Marta Tsehay Sewasew [email protected] +251(0)913242156
EU Carl Daspect [email protected] +251(0)929007552
Maria-Elena Ruiz Maria-Elena.Ruiz-
DFID Lindi Hlanze [email protected] +251(0)930105560
NGOs implementing projects on themes relevant to the UNIDO projects in the area of
Mekelle and that were contacted during the project’s inception phase are the following:
VIS Chiara Lombardi [email protected] +251(0)968603748
Rainbow4
Children
Kathryn Robinson [email protected] +251(0)912964966
Don
Bosco
Hagos Medhin [email protected] +251(0)910531688
4.4.9.1. Towards a collaboration with GIZ
During the Inception Phase of the project, the UNIDO staff had several meeting with
personnel of GIZ involved in different ways in projects about the textile and garment
industry. GIZ was the other major development partner that attended the meeting with
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H&M in February 2017, a meeting that as was remarked above proved to be central in
conceptualizing the UNIDO project and framing it through a PPPs approach. GIZ
followed a similar route and developed a project that has some similarities with the
intervention of AICS/UNIDO. GIZ’s project is based on a strategic partnership with DBL
and H&M to develop middle management trainings in the premises of DBL factory.
Therefore, it is self-evident that there is urgent need of some degrees of coordination
between UNIDO and GIZ initiatives. A GIZ staff member attended the second public-
private roundtable held in January 2018, and in that occasion also government institutions
and private companies raised questions about how to coordinate the two interventions.
One possible avenue that was discussed is to establish a specific coordination on the
middle management trainings, including sharing curriculum manuals, and learning from
the experiences of both projects. This could lay the foundation for the two initiatives to
merge after the completion of respective implementation phases. A Centre of Excellence
operating through a modular approach – as discussed in the second roundtable – could
constitute a potential joint platform for such effort. From the perspective of
AICS/UNIDO this would present the additional advantage to guarantee stronger long-
term sustainability of the Centre of Excellence. What it is suggested here is to address
this matter as soon as possible at the beginning of implementation phase. The
recommended tool is to establish a joint Project Cooperation Agreement between
AICS/UNIDO and GIZ.
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4.5. Recommendations to formulating a one-year training timeline
Based on the findings of the study this section provides a set of recommendations for
implementation of the project, with in mind the objective to formulate a one-year timeline
of trainings at the Centre of Excellence. Recommendations have been grouped into sub-
categories to facilitate reading. These include the four main training components
discussed during Public-Private roundtables, as well as institutional recommendations on
how to follow up the PPP initiated in connection with the Centre of Excellence and
relationship with other implementation agencies operating on the textile sector in Tigray.
Before this, the first section summarizes key findings of the Report that inform the
recommendations of following sections.
4.5.1. Key findings
The textile industry around Mekelle is going to require a significant number of
workers in the next few years. By themselves, the companies surveyed and
engaged in the discussion to establish the Centre of Excellence plan to hire
20,000+ workers in the next three years, and additional 10,000+ to achieve full
capacity. These are conservative figures that do not account for small and
medium textile companies, as well as major industrial operators already in the
area such as ITACA/Calzedonia.
While the number of job seekers with a profile suitable for the textile industry
(e.g. 18-25 years old, and Grade 9 or above) in Tigray is significant (~140,000),
only about 5% of these can be sourced from Mekelle Municipality (~7,000). By
implication, it is expected that the expansion of the T&G will be associated with
significant fluxes of migrant workers from elsewhere in the region.
A significant number of workers are potentially available in the six wereda
immediately bordering with Mekelle Municipality (~13,000).
Existing training institutions (e.g. TVETs) are not able to meet the existing
demand for trainings from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective.
Labour migration raises deeper questions about the transition to industrial life,
which entails economic, social, and cultural transformations that need to be taken
into consideration when developing trainings, particularly on soft skills.
Labour migration is complex and not unidirectional from rural to urban areas.
Peri-urban sites where the industry put its roots become target of multiple fluxes
from both the inner city and rural areas. In addition, at least in the short-term,
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labour migration is never permanent, and rather is characterized by frequent
commuting and movements back and forth to the place of origin.
Over 85% of the employees in the textile industry are women with a low
socio-economic profile, and eligible for a minimal entry salary. Industrial work is
unlikely to enfranchise young women from existing social hierarchies within the
household and the broader communities of origin.
While working, women are still expected to perform the same domestic tasks in
the household. This and frequent social and cultural obligations in the community
explain high rates of turnover and absenteeism. A particular concern is childcare
for migrant workers that have no family network in the area where they relocate.
The textile industry and industrialization are regarded as important aspects of
the country’s future, and have attached positive notions of progress, modernity
and development. Industrial jobs have a higher reputation than jobs in other
sectors, even when these pay a better salary. The textile industry is expected to
create new jobs and tackle the problem of youth unemployment.
The fact that the textile industry offers initial low salaries has several
implications. Regardless of how low these salaries are still very important in
consideration of the substantial lack of alternatives that many youth face today,
and of households’ reproductive strategies. Particularly, for those households with
an agriculture background an additional cash income often constitutes an
important risk diversification strategy.
Connected to the question of low initial salaries, work in the textile industry is
usually regarded as a short-term strategy. Young workers plan to get enough
skills and experience to move on to a better life.
4.5.2. Recommendations on Coordination and a PPPs
The continued coordination with the MoI is fundamental to guarantee the long-
term sustainability of the project and the potential creation of a model to
implement elsewhere in the country.
The continued collaboration and involvement of ETIDI at all levels is also
extremely important for the long-term sustainability of the project.
The two roundtables organized during the inception phase consolidated a network
of public and private stakeholders committed to support the establishment of the
Centre of Excellence. The relationship with these actors needs to be nurtured and
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consolidated further. It is recommended that the private and public actors engaged
will constitute the initial members of the Centre of Excellence Steering
Committee. This is to guarantee long-run effectiveness and sustainability of the
project.
It is recommended that the Centre of Excellence is informed by the principles
that emerged during the two roundtable discussions. These include: the flexibility
and adaptability of trainings to changing industrial conditions; a modular
approach in which the provision of basic trainings takes place side by side with
more specialised one depending on specific circumstances; the creation of strong
links with textile colleges and other textile education institutions throughout the
country; the coordination with the Career Centre of Mekelle University, local
public employment institutions, and other national databases of graduates (for
instance through ETIDI).
ETIDI should be empowered to play the role of strengthening the Centre of
Excellence’s upstream and downstream linkages with other education institutions
and the job market (for instance through the placement programme).
The role of the Mekelle Garment College as host of the Centre of Excellence
needs to be formalized through appropriate institutional agreements. It is
recommended that throughout the duration of the project UNIDO staff work in
close coordination with the management of the Garment College to assure a
timely and effective implementation. One option is basing a UNIDO office inside
the premises of the College.
The collaboration with the industrial partners involved in the inception phase (i.e.
H&M, DBL, Strathmore, MAA garment, and Velocity) needs to be formalized as
soon as possible through arrangements (for instance Project Cooperation
Agreements) that detail their role and commitments in supporting the Centre of
Excellence.
It is also recommended that Project Cooperation Agreements are signed with GIZ
to coordinate activities about trainings for middle management, and the Institute
of Science and Technology of Mekelle University to coordinate activities
connected to the training of managers.
A coordination roundtable with other development agencies and donors (e.g.
GIZ, DFID, ILO, World Bank, etc.) currently or in the process of operating in the
textile sector in Tigray needs to be convened the soonest.
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It is recommended that, at least at an initial stage, the Centre of Excellence will
release a Private Certification building on the reputation of the Steering
Committee.
It is also recommended that during the project implementation appropriate steps
are taken to start the procedures for the standardisation of the training manuals
and their integration within the national TVET system via the revision of
Occupational Standards and Curricula. This will guarantee a much wider and
long-term impact of the project.
It is recommended that information about the Centre of Excellence is
disseminated widely through different tools, including placement programmes at
times of graduation, job fairs, radio and TV adverts. Available opportunities for
trainings, vacancies, and other information are constantly updated on the Centre
of Excellence website, and triangulated with other web portals (such as
EthioJobs.net).
4.5.3. Technical skill trainings
Considering that the industry will require ~20,000 new workers during the course of the
project implementation (i.e. the next three years), following estimations provided by
H&M for a sample factory (see section 1.5.), the subdivision of the workforce needed
among different departments can be estimated as follows.
Department Number of workers
Sewing operators 12,000
Helper (sew+cut+fin) 6,084
Cutting department 36
Sewing department 936
Finishing department 120
Industrial engineering department 42
Merchandising team 84
Others 618
Based on the above, and still following the template/estimation provided by H&M, it is
possible to estimate that the approximate requirement of trained workers that the textile
industry around Mekelle will require in the next three years is the following:
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Skill requirement Number of workers Training segment
Helper (sew+cut+fin) 6,084 Basic operators
Sewing operators 12,000
Junior management 1,560 Middle management
Middle management 324
Top management 48 Managers
The roundtable discussion on technical skills for basic operators and the manual
produced thereafter (attached to this Report) formulated training sessions with a total
duration of 45 days. Considering festivities and breaks it is plausible to estimate that
every year the Centre of Excellence will be able to host 7 sessions of trainings. For every
15 trainees 1 trainer is required. Estimating a capacity of 200 trainees at a time,8 the
Centre of Excellence will be potentially able to graduate 700 basic operators every
year. Information are summarised in the following table.
Technical skills for basic operators
Duration of one training session 45 days
N. of training sessions/year 7
N. of trainees at each session 200
N. of trainers per 100 trainees 13
Total trainees graduated/year 700
Total trainees graduated during the project 4,200
The roundtable discussion on middle management and the manual produced thereafter
(attached to this Report) formulated training sessions organized in 7 modules of 2 weeks
each. A full training cycle encompassing all the modules takes 14 weeks. Considering
festivities and breaks it is plausible to estimate that every year the Centre of Excellence
will be able to host 3 sessions of trainings. Estimating a capacity of 50 trainees at a
time, 9 the Centre of Excellence will be potentially able to graduate 150 middle
8 The maximum capacity available at the MGC is workshop space to host 300 trainees at a time. However,
the number of trainees at any given time will depend on the allocation of the budget for any single training
activity of the project. 9 Classrooms available at the Mekelle Garment College can host much larger classes. However, the number
of trainees depends on the allocation of the budget for any single training activity of the project.
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management staff every year. For every 20 trainees up to 1 trainer is required.
Information are summarised in the following table.
Middle management trainings
Duration of one training session 14 weeks
N. of training sessions/year 3
N. of trainees at each session 50
N. of trainers per training cycle 3
Total trainees graduated/year 150
Total trainees graduated during the project 450
The roundtable discussion on managers highlighted that it is difficult to estimate exact
numbers of how many people can be trained. Training sessions will need to be based on
seminars and case study discussions, and be mainly driven by the industry and the
university. The recommendation is to explore the possibility to allocate some project
budget to the organization of 4 seminar sessions for managers every year. The main
expense incurred in this regard is providing for the cost of national/international experts
that give the training. Using personnel of international companies that visit the country
for other business related reasons can reduce substantially this cost. Initially, these
sessions can be provided by the College of Science and Technology of Mekelle
University following the manual compiled as Annex to this Report. The manual
encompasses 8 modules for a total duration of 18 days.
Trainings of top managers
Duration of one seminar session 1/2 days
N. of training sessions/year 4
N. of trainees at each session 10/20
N. of trainers per session 1
Total trainings provided during the project 40/80
Additional recommendations on technical skill training:
The general arrangement agreed upon during roundtable discussions was to
design trainings based on a dual step approach. Under this arrangement the
general part of the training is provided at the Centre of Excellence, while more
specialized training is given by each factory in house.
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More broadly a modular approach to trainings is what should best describe the
structure/organization of the Centre of Excellence. Under this arrangement, basic
trainings are provided side by side with more specialised one depending on
specific circumstances, and taking into account the evolution of the industry over
time. When required, companies can for instance discuss and implement specific
training modules on specialized lines of production.
For both basic operators and middle management the project has to account for
additional Trainings of Trainers (ToTs). The private sector partners engaged in
the discussion have the capacity to provide ToTs, and it is recommended that
arrangements on this matter to be fully discussed as part of the stipulation of
project cooperation agreements.
Internships, exposure visits, and other exchanges with education institutions,
universities, and private sector actors must be incorporated and developed as part
of the training activities of the Centre of Excellence. This enables to strengthen
the overall quality of trainings and generate more competitive workers.
4.5.4. Soft skill trainings
Findings from the socio-economic assessment, as well as outcomes of the
roundtable discussion with public and private sector actors point at the criticality
of soft skill training. The current low productivity of labour is strongly connected
with issues about attitudinal change and adaptation to an industrial life.
It is recommended that all the trainees at all levels of specialization undertake
soft skill trainings.
Basic operators need soft skill trainings that acquaint them with the industrial
culture, including how to behave on a factory setting, time management, industrial
psychology, and health & safety regulations. A training manual on this topic is
provided as Annex to this Report. As the language of the manual is Amharic, it
might need translation into Tigigna.
In addition it is recommended that all trainees be provided with trainings about
their duty and responsibility as provided by the current labour law. A training
manual on this topic is provided as attachment to this Report.
It is recommended that soft skill initiatives must also involve line supervisors,
middle management, as well as managers. These professional figures require
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qualities such as leadership, as well as understanding the social and cultural
background of the workers that they manage under them.
Soft skill initiatives must take in consideration the social and cultural background
of the workers, and more broadly issues related to the transition to an industrial
life. Initiatives have to take into account the very context where workers come
from, including the agricultural background of many workers, as well as the
gender dynamics of the industry.
Soft skill initiatives must be thought as part of a broader effort to build the future
of Mekelle, Tigray, and Ethiopia, and not merely as initiatives that aim to create
employment in the short term.
4.5.4.1. Non-conventional soft skill training activities
Roundtable discussions as well as the socio-economic assessment recognised that soft
skill training need to deal with complex social, cultural and economic transformation. For
this reason conventional soft skills initiatives are not always effective. The encounter
between workers and the industry should be one of mutual understanding in which both
sides make steps towards the other. For this reason, it is suggested that complementary
soft skill development initiatives are designed in a way that goes beyond “traditional” soft
skill trainings taught in a class or as part of a broader curriculum.
A main outcome of discussion is that there is need of trainings that involve the broader
communities where the workers come from. As remarked by H&M staff members there
is need to think soft skill activities where the “Centre of Excellence goes to the
communities, and not only vice versa”. Industry based approach to soft skill training need
to be complemented by the creation of strong ties and linkages with the communities of
provenance of workers. In other words there is need to creating industrial culture at
community level.
It is therefore suggested that the project develop some of the following activities in the
peri-urban sites in Mekelle around the main industrial conglomerates, as well as in the six
wereda around Mekelle Municipality that were screened as part of the socio-economic
assessment.
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The following potential activities have been suggested by H&M. The company expressed
the will to discuss the formulation of a full concept note and manual and take the lead in
implementation.
Soft skill training activities on the industrial life are provided at community level
directly, in the form of meetings and/or workshops. These can include topics such
as hygiene, saving (personal financial literacy), reproductive health etc.
Community motivation initiatives through entrepreneurship development linked
with industrialization.
Initiative aimed at capacitating workers union to become service and product
suppliers for their community and the industry needs (e.g. supply of food items
for industrial zone, production of community consumables, etc.)
Providing more focused soft skill trainings to community gatekeepers that in turn
are able to communicate and culturally translate key messages about the industry.
This can complement existing mass training approaches.
Development of mobile training initiatives for communities (e.g. mobile cinema).
Documentaries based on true stories of industry workers that show the
opportunities presented by industrialization as well as the challenges related with
the difference of culture between ruler and industrial life.
Documentaries explaining in a culturally appropriate manner what the industrial
life and industrialization entail for the communities and for Ethiopia.
The above potential initiatives may require partnership of several stakeholders, such as
local government offices, local and national media, worker unions, micro-finance
institutions, and other development partners.
4.6. Preliminary list of equipment and machineries for the Centre of Excellence
The list below was compiled by ETIDI in collaboration with major industrial actors. The
list is meant to provide a comprehensive checklist of items potentially required to equip
the Mekelle Garment College to establish the Centre of Excellence. The list includes
machinery, raw materials, equipment, and tools for trainings to be performed in relation
to Occupational Standard (OS) levels from one to five.
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Section Machineries Raw materials and
Chemicals Equipment/Tools Ratio Remark
CAD-
Pattern
Making
&
Embroid
er Design
Machiner
y (Soft-
Ware)
A. Embroidery
Software: Wave fill
Fireworks, Auto
digitizer, Font
creator, Custom
cornering & Design
manager
A. Embroidery
Assist Window
Advanced Server
Cad: Lay License
B. Dongle: As
key
B. Completed
CAD System :for
Pattern & Marker
Making , Grading
tools and printing
software
C. CAD Assyst
Window
Advanced Server
Cad: Lay
Liscence
D. Dongle: As
key
E. Digitizer: With
complete
adjustable foot
support
F. Paper / A3 and A4/
1. Eraser
2. Album Materials
3. Marker pens/chalk
4. Pattern paper
5. Tracing paper
6. Marker
7. sketches, drawings,
illustrations,
photographs
8. samples of fabrics
and garments
9. written descriptions
and instructions
10. specification sheets
11. storyboards/chart
12. Paper and fabric
Scissors
13. Tape measure
14. Pattern notcher
15. Ruler (metal)one
meter
16. Square rule
17. Hole punch
18. Fashion triangle
19. French curve
20. Paper weight
21. Opener
22. Masking tape
23. Sticking tape
24. Triangle (45º-
90º)
25. Pattern hook
26. L-square
27. Tracing wheel
28. Hip curve
29. Thimble
30. cartridge paper
31. crayons
32. pencils , Pencil
sharpener
33. Pins
34. Scotch tape
35. Image capturing
devices
36. Drills
37. Metal die
38. Computer and
appropriate
software
39. Marker
card/paper
40. Seating
41. Cutting table
1. The ratio of
each Machines
will be 1:20
2. The ratio of
each tools will
be 1:1
3. The raw
material is
difficult to
express in
terms of ratio
.but at least it
must be
available in the
work shop.
Generally,
there are
different
types of soft
ware in
designing
department,
but at least
one type of
software
must be
available for
both CAD
Pattern
making and
Embroidery.
Fabric
Spreadin
g
&Cutting
Machiner
y
1. Non blowing
Spreading Table:
2. End cutter
3. Straight knife
Cutting Machine
4. Round knife
cutting machine
5. Automatic Bias
Cutting Machine
6. Embroidery
Machine
7. Fusing Press
Machine
42. Paper / A3 and A4/
43. Fabric ( denim, wool
suiting ,corduroy
,satins , chiffon
,rayons ,knits such
as: polar fleece
double knits, single
knits, tricot)
44. Marker pens/chalk
45. Pattern paper
46. Tailor’s chalk
47. Marker
48. sketches, drawings,
illustrations,
photographs
53. Paper and fabric
Scissors
54. Tape measure
55. Paper weight
56. Masking tape
57. Sticking tape
58. Pattern hook
59. Hole punch
60. Thimble
61. pencils , Pencil
sharpener
62. Pins
63. Image capturing
devices
64. Drills
4. The ratio of
each
Machines
will be 1:20
5. The ratio of
each tools
will be 1:1
6. The raw
material is
difficult to
express in
terms of ratio
.but it must
be available
in the work
Generally,
there are
different
types of
fabric
spreading &
Cutting
department,
but at least
some types of
machineries
must be
available.
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Section Machineries Raw materials and
Chemicals Equipment/Tools Ratio Remark
49. samples of fabrics
and garments
50. written descriptions
and instructions
51. specification sheets
52. storyboards/chart
65. Metal die
66. Computer and
appropriate
software
67. Marker
card/paper
68. Cutting table
69. Air flow and
flotation tables
70. Pressing tools
shop.
Sewing
Machiner
y
Single needle
lock stitch
machine with
under bed
trimmer
Double needle
lock stitch
machine with
organized split
needle bar
Feed of the arm
machine
Two Needle
Four thread over
lock machine
Two Needle five
thread over lock
machine
Thread Cylinder
Bed type
interlock
machine for
hemming
operation
Thread flat Bed
type interlock
machine for
binding
operation with
bind
Multi needle
double chain
stitch machine
equipped with
puller for
waistband
operations
Computer
controlled bar
tacking machine
Computer
controlled High
speed lock stitch
71. Fabric ( denim, wool
suiting ,corduroy
,satins , chiffon
,rayon’s ,knits such
as: polar fleece
double knits, single
knits, tricot)
72. Eraser
73. Tailor’s chalk
74. Sewing thread
75. sketches, drawings,
illustrations,
photographs
76. samples of fabrics
and garments
77. written descriptions
and instructions
78. specification sheets
79. storyboards/chart
80. Trimmers and
fabric Scissors
81. Tape measure
82. Opener
83. Needles
84. Adjustable
wrench
85. Allen key
86. Screw drive
87. Masking tape
88. Sticking tape
89. Thimble
90. Masking tape
91. Scotch tape
92. Seating
93. Pressing tools
7. The ratio of
each
8. Basic (Single
needle lock
stitch
machine) and
Tool &
equipment
=1:1
9. Moderate And
special (Feed
of the arm
mach, Two
Needle five
thread over
lock, Thread
flat Bed type
interlock,
Multi needle
double chain
stitch
machine,
Computer
controlled bar
tacking,
Computer
controlled
High speed
lock stitch
button
sewing,
Computer
controlled
high speed
lock stitch
button holing,
Pneumatic
Snaps fixing
and Blind
Stitching)
=1:10
10. The
raw material is
Generally,
There are
different
types of
sewing
machinery in
this
department,
but at least
some types of
machineries
must be
available
based on the
ration.
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Section Machineries Raw materials and
Chemicals Equipment/Tools Ratio Remark
button sewing
machine
Computer
controlled high
speed lock stitch
button holing
machine
Pneumatic Snaps
fixing machine
Blind Stitching
machine
difficult to
express in terms
of ratio .but it
must be
available in the
work shop.
Garment
Finishing
Machiner
y
A. Electrically
heated steam
iron with
Vacuum ironing
table
B. Boiler
C. Different forms
94. Album Materials
95. Samples of fabrics
and garments
96. Written descriptions
and instructions
97. Specification sheets
98. Storyboards/chart
99. Trimmers
100. Tape measure
101. Opener
102. Masking tape
103. Sticking tape
104. Thimble
105. Masking tape
106. Seating
107. Air flow and
flotation tables
108. Pressing tools
11. The
ratio of each
Machines =
1:20
12. The ratio of
each tools will
be 1:1
13. The raw
material is
difficult to
express in
terms of ratio
.but at least it
must be
available in the
work shop.
After design,
cutting, and
sewing over
the final
finishing will
be done by
the listed
machineries
as per the
ratio.
Some of the mentioned machine are miniature
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4.7. Project Logical Framework
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5. References
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Ali, M., O. Godart, H. Gorg, and A. Seric (2016), Cluster Development Programs in
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Abdella, M. and G. Ayele (2008), Agri-chain analysis of Cotton Sub-sector in Ethiopia,
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Berhe, H., T. Tesfay, K. Tsegay, A. Abraha, Z. Haileslasie, Z. Gebremeskel (2017), A
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University, Mekelle.
Enterprise Partners (2016), Cotton, Textile, and Apparel Sector Strategy, Addis Ababa.
ETGAMA (2014), Ethiopian Textile Sector Profile, Addis Ababa.
ETIDI (2016), Textile Sector Profile, Addis Ababa.
ETIDI (2013), Textile and Clothing Value Chain Roadmap, Ethiopian Textile Industries
Development Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
FDRE (2016), Growth and Transformation Plan 2, National Planning Commission,
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FDRE (2011), Growth and Transformation Plan 1, National Planning Commission,
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International Trade Centre (2016), Textile & Clothing Value Chain Roadmap of Ethiopia,
Addis Ababa.
Kassaw, M. (2013), Competitiveness Model Development for Ethiopian Traditional
Fashions in the Global Market, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.
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Martin, R., and P. Sunley (2003), Deconstructing Clusters: Chaotic Concept or Policy
Panacea?, Journal of Economic Geography, 3(1): 5–35.
Mekelle Textile Garment College (2013), Research on Textile, Clothes Products and
Leather Products, Mekelle.
Tigray Bureau of Trade and Industry (Bureau of T&I) (2014), Textile, Garment And
Leather Products Potential Growth, Tigray Regional Bureau Of Trade, Industry And
Urban Development and Bureau of TVET, Mekelle.
World Bank (2016). Government Objectives: Benefits and Risks of PPPs. [Available]
http://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/overview/ppp-objectives
World Bank (2009). World Development Report: Reshaping Economic Geography,
World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Yoshino, Y. (ed.) (2011), Industrial clusters and micro and small enterprises in Africa:
From survival to growth. Directions in Development—Private Sector Development,
World Bank, Washington, D.C.
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Annex 1. In-depth interviews transcripts
Qwiha training centre (December 2017)
A preliminary discussion I had with one trainer highlighted that gender roles are assigned
already at the stage of training. Men are hired for printing while women for sewing. A
main reason the trainer gave is because “it is difficult to keep men sitting all day”.
1) Female, 27 years old. Before enrolling for the training she spent two years working as
time keeper for a construction company in the area between Harar and Dire Dawa.
Because of the protests and conflict that erupted in the area – especially connected to
students – she decided to move back to Mekelle. Her education level is Grade 10. She is
married, with 2 children of 5 and 12 years old, her husband works in the construction
sector as carpenter at a place called Meremiti, 7 birr by minibus far away from Qwiha.
The reason why she joined the training is because she was still looking for a job after she
relocated, and she heard about the training from some brokers in Qwiha. For the training
she is given 20 birr/day to cover basic transport and food. She has been attending the
training for 12 days now, and she is very happy and eager to learn a lot about the textile
industry. They did not have a discussion about salary, and she does not know how much
basic workers get when first employed. She heard that entry salary is very low. She also
heard that the industrial life is tough because you have to work through shifts, maybe for
one month you work at night, and the following month during the day. She also heard
that often you have to stay in the workplace longer at night. Despite these issues she is
very eager to get employment in the sector, especially because these days there are no
many job opportunities for young people. Her husband currently earns about 2500
ETB/month, altogether their monthly budget is about 3000 ETB. Considering all the
expenses, she contends this is not enough. The house rent is 600 ETB, school fees
300/month for each child. Decisions about how to spend the budget are taken jointly
between her and her husband. She believes that working for a company is what is best in
the long run, even if the initial salary can be low. Her ultimate dream is to become
manager of one big company. The positive aspect of working in a company is the
possibility to get career advancements. She never tried to establish a MSE, also because
she does not believe in that model.
2) Female, 18 years, Grade 10. She is originally from Qwiha, but she currently lives some
ten km away from town, the cost of transport is about 10 ETB. She lives with her mother,
and two other brothers, both working in the construction sector, 1 at the site where DBL
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is constructing its facility, the other for a company called Zaram. The mother has got 0,5
hectares of land and she produces sorghum, wheat and teff. This was her father’s land
who passed away sometimes back. All the production goes to family consumption. They
also have 2 oxen and 1 cow that produces enough milk for the family. They use fertilisers
(50kg DAP, 50 kg UREA) that they pay for in advance as it is no longer possible to have
them on credit. Rather than working the land like her mother does, she would prefer to
get a job in the textile industry. In an industrial setting you learn skills that you can then
employ to create your own business. She contends that the same does not apply for
agriculture, in other words her perception is that industry offers her more opportunity in
the long run, rather than agriculture. Her two brothers built a house in the mother’s
property and they share with her half of their salary, they get every month 2000 and 1500
ETB. She contends that the cash income plus the product of the land make up for a decent
household living. She is happy that she could now get her own salary from working in the
textile industry, because this is what she defines as “her own interest”. She would like to
get enough skills to be able to develop her own garment business in the future. She was
not told what are the working conditions in the industry, including salaries. She heard that
the salary is minimum initially, but that it can increase over time depending on your
ambition. She also heard that shifts can be tough, but she is ok with that. Her ultimate
dream is to start her own garment business.
3) Male, 20, from Qwiha, completed Grade 12. He is enrolled into an evening course on
management at the Sheba College in Mekelle. He lives with her mother and they are the
only two people in the household. His mother owns a shop of groceries. He decided to
enrol in the textile training because he believes this is the future. He really likes the
training that is attending, which focuses on printing mainly. The training lasts for one
month only and he is eager to make the most of it. While he heard about the training in
town, he does not have information on other textile companies in the area that are also
seeking for employees. He has got two sisters and one brother. One sister lives in Dubai.
She works there as maid, the other one lives with his father. The brother works in the
construction sector as carpenter. His father is a policeman, but he has got another family
now and lives in a different house. His mother has got also some land some 30 km away
from Qwiha. Her uncle is in charge of farming and he shares some profit with his mother.
Although salaries are low, he sees the training as an investment for the future, rather than
for the present. He would have no problem in taking shifts and earning a low salary
initially. I then ask the question about how his friends see the career he wants to pursue.
He contends that his friends are very happy – it seems there is no peer stigma on jobs in
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the textile sector. Rather, it is seen as the future for Tigray. His ultimate dream is to learn
how to handle a business better than Bill Gates.
4) Female, 22, completed Grade 12, from Mekelle, currently living in the area around the
university. Her household is composed of 5 people. Two brothers are 25 and 28
respectively, one is a bajaj driver, and the other is married and lives in the same family
compound, although in a separate house. This latter brother is a farmer and works some
family land at a location a bit far away from home. He produces wheat, teff, and sorghum
and has got 4 oxen. Recently he harvested 3 quintals of wheat and 2,5 quintals of teff. All
the harvest is used for family consumption and is not traded. Her brother works alone and
has no permanent workers, he only occasionally hire daily workers for harvest.
Additionally, they also have some 5 timads (0,75ha) that they share with other family
members in two different locations. One piece of land is about two timads and harvested
13 quintals of wheat. For the other 3 timads they are still waiting to know the extent of
the harvest. She actively participate in many of the agricultural activities, including
helping with harvest, and removing alien plants from the field. In the past she was also
helping with threshing, but not this and last year because she was busy with school.
Although she is now enrolled in the training, because it is currently harvesting season,
after work she joins her family and help as much as she can. She contends that if she will
get the textile job she will have to help with the land anyway, although she will try to
prioritise the job as much as possible. She contends that her father also agrees that if she
is employed she will not be able to fully help with the land. Other daily domestic tasks
that she perform include fetching the water and baking injera together with her mother.
They have two donkeys and she is in charge of them during the night time. Her mother is
very supportive and she believes it is important that she started the training. She heard
from other people about how it is working in the textile industry. A cousin of her is
employed at Velocity. This is how she came to know about the training opportunity
offered by DBL. Her cousin started with a very minimum salary, 600 ETB, and now after
2 years she gets about 1000 ETB. Good thing is that they provide lunch and there is a
clinic for any health issue. She is attracted about the opportunity to get a job in the
industry because this gives you the chance to grow. It is tough, but given the current
condition of high unemployment, the textile industry represents a pathway for uplifting.
Her cousin is happy about the shifts and all the other work arrangements at Velocity.
Initially she also wanted to register at Velocity, but when she found out it was already too
late and they closed subscriptions. Her dream is to become self-sufficient, she does not
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want to depend on other people. For instance, when she will get married, she will still
want to retain some economic independence from her husband.
5) Female, 19, completed Grade 10. She lives in Houseba, a village nearby the wind farm
that is possible to spot also from Mekelle airport. From Qwiha you have to get a 10 birr
minibus, plus walking for an additional 30 mins. Her family is quite large, they are 11
altogether in her household, 6 brothers and 3 sisters plus her parents. Her two sisters are 4
and 7 years old, and alongside 4 of the brothers are minors that are either at home or
attend primary school. The other two of her brothers are 16 and 21, this last one is a
student at Arba Minch University. The family’s main source of income is from farming.
They have 7 timad of land (1,75 ha), but they also rent from other additional 3 timads.
They have 3 oxen, 2 cows, and 3 donkeys. Except for the first born who was sent to
university, the rest of the household members are all involved in agricultural activities.
She also helps as much as she can. However, if she will start working in the textile
company she’ll not have time for that. She heard about the training offered by DBL one
day when she went at the market in Qwiha. Other tasks that she performs in the
household include baking injera, fetching water, cleaning the stable, and preparing the
flour for injera. The only income that the family currently raise is from the product of the
land. They have just harvested 25 quintals of wheat, 15 of sorghum, and 6 of lentils.
These are all products that they sell at the market, while retaining a portion for their own
consumption. They do not grow teff because the land where they are sitting is not suitable
for it. Her parents are very happy that she was able to enrol in the training. Both her
mother and father think that a job in the industry comes first. Some of her friends are
currently working in the sector. They contend that although the salary is very low this is
the only way to get a job these days. Having a poorly paid job is better than having no
job. Her dream in life is to achieve self-sufficiency and to get married.
6) Female, 20, completed Grade 10, from Qwiha. Her household encompasses 7 people, 3
sisters and 2 brothers. Except one of the sisters – who currently run a coffee house – all
the other siblings are students. Her father was a teacher and is now retired, her mother
housewife. She heard about the training from some people she knows. Before that she
was also helping her other sister with the coffee house. She is very happy about the
training, the first couple of days she found it a bit difficult, but now she is completely on
top of it. Her perspective is that she likes the job, but she not given information about
salaries and other issues. She knows salaries are low, but they tend to get better in the
longer run. At home she is in charge of several tasks, including washing clothes,
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cleaning, baking injera, fetching water. These are tasks that she will be asked to perform
regardless of whether she’ll get the job. Her dream is to be able to get some extra
education and then migrating to Israel.
7) Female, 21, from Mekelle, completed Grade 10. She currently lives by herself in
Qwiha, and she works at a coffee house. This business was not part of the Micro and
Small Enterprises scheme, she opened it independently without getting resources and
support from local government offices. Before moving to Qwiha she lived in Shire and
was working as an employee for another coffee house, her salary was 1500 ETB/month.
Her salary at the coffee house in Qwiha is currently 2000 ETB/month. She decided to
enrol in the training because she wanted to try something else and make the most of the
opportunity. She heard about the training from some friends. She knows that the initial
salary in the industry is about 800 ETB/month. Despite this being considerably lower
than that she would make at the coffee shop, she believes that trying to work in the textile
sector is an investment on her future. She contends that 800 ETB is still a fine salary if
you are living with your family. If you live by yourself it is not sustainable. What she
likes about the textile industry and the reasons why she would be willing to get a lower
salary are the following: the working environment is clean; you can still study in the
evening by taking night class from 5 to 8pm; alternatively she can still work at the coffee
shop after 5pm and diversify her income; work in the factory helps you to grow and to
build a better future, whereas the job at the coffee shop has no prospects of growth. The
overall dream she has is to be self-sufficient and independent.
MAA Garment factory (January 2018)
8) Male, 22, completed Grade 12, from Qwiha. He has been working at MAA garment
for 3 years now, and is currently enrolled for a degree in accounting at Sheba University
College. He currently works in the cutting section. He has got 3 sisters and 1 brother, but
they all live in different households. He lives by himself with his mother, who just keeps
the house. He provides for her. Working at MAA is good because it is close to where he
lives and in the evening he can attend class at college. There is a career ladder and he is
currently operator level 3. But his dream is to work in bank after completing his degree.
He also speaks decent English. He contends that the industry is providing very good
opportunity for the people in Mekelle, especially for women and youth. The textile
industry is currently one of the few opportunities for people with little education. More
broadly the industrial turn is good for the people, because it is potentially enfranchising,
and for the country’s growth. He started with a salary of 728 ETB/month, now he gets
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1622. They have a rent of 800 ETB, this making the salary not enough for living. He is
taking this period of his life as a transition. He wants to work hard and get further
education first, then he will think at getting married and getting a better job.
9) Male, 30, has worked for the company for the past 13 years. He is a mechanic in
charge of maintenance. He was a basic operator until 5 years ago. While he was operator
he graduated at the TVET in General Mechanics. He studied during the evening shift.
Before getting employed he had Grade 8 education only. He first got grade 9 and 10 and
then he enrolled in the TVET. He has married twice, and with the current partner he has a
son of 1 year and 5 months. During his first marriage we used to live in the surroundings
of Qwiha, afterwards he relocated in the city centre. His current wife used to work for
MAA garment for two years. Then, when the baby was born, she decided to stay at home:
her salary was 1000 ETB/month, getting a servant that serves as baby sitter costs more
than that. His salary is quite good though, he gets 3800 ETB/month, although he
mentions that when he started his initial salary was 150 ETB during the training and 230
ETB first employment. Considering that the rent for the house is 700 ETB, his income
allows his family a decent living, although he is not able to save any money. In the future
he would like to start his own mechanics firm. He would quit his job only if he gets a
better salary elsewhere, or if he can open his business. He contends that the opportunities
provided by the textile industry are very important for Mekelle and Ethiopia. He only
wishes that jobs could pay better salaries. But the main focus now should be on creating
as many job opportunities as possible. In his experience he sees that the main reason
behind high turnover rates is because of low salaries. People have high initially
expectations about working in the industry, and then they get disillusioned after a while.
Many workers resign after the first month. The reason why people stay nonetheless, is
because a career ladder makes salary increases possible.
10) Female, 27, has worked at MAA garment for 7 years. When she started she was a
helper, she is now operator level 3 after taking several trainings. She works in the sewing
segment. While working at MAA she managed to get a diploma in accounting at the Nile
College. She is married and has two daughters of 3,5 and 9 years old. They live in Qwiha.
Her husband has a permanent job in a construction company. No other people live in the
household. Her husband on average gets 3/4000 ETB/month. Her gross salary is 1620
ETB/month, the net salary is 1390. Because they live close enough to her mother, the
children after school are taken care by their grandmother. The family income is enough
because they own the house where they live. Her dream is to start running her own
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business at some point. She contends that decisions about how to spend the family budget
are on her. Her husband gives her a majority of the salary and he keeps only some for
personal expenses. The textile industry, and she refers to the industrial park more
specifically, is very good for the future of the people and of the country. Her personal
view is however that she prefers running her own business rather than working as
operator. For her children she wishes that they will become civil servants, that kind of life
is much smoother. If she opens her own business they will be able to continue it after she
retires.
11) Female, 18, has worked at MAA for the past 6 months. She has got Grade 10 at
school and this is her first job. After she graduated, she spent some time looking for jobs
but what she could find was only employment as daily labourer. What she likes about this
job is working in a clean environment and to have job security/stability. She lives with
her parents. She has three sisters – all older than her, all married and live with their
husbands – and 1 older brother living at home. Her brother completed Grade 10 four
years ago, but has been unemployed since then. Her parents do not have proper jobs,
although they have 2 houses that they rent at 500 ETB each. The 1000 ETB household
income is then integrated by some remittances of one of her sisters, who lives in Addis,
and who sends money from time to time. Her other sisters are both housewives and live
in Qwiha. Her father used to work as guard for the kindergarten. Her initial salary at
MAA was 800 ETB, now increased to 1020 ETB. This is therefore a very significant
contribution to family budget, she gives it to her mother almost in its entirety. She also
mentions that often the salary is less because she is absent. For instance this month she
did not go to work one day because she had to attend the wedding of a relative from her
mother’s side of the family. In this case, considering that it was only for one day and that
she asked permission in advance, they will deduct it from her annual leaves. I then notice
that she has a wedding ring and I ask if she is married. She says that she is not married
but that she keeps the ring to protect herself from inopportune people. Her dream is not
one very definite, she just wishes herself for the best and a better future. She is ready to
move elsewhere in case she’ll find better job opportunities. But rather than employed in a
company she would prefer to start her own business, a hair saloon for instance. Her
brother sometimes gets daily jobs around Qwiha and he even started working at MAA,
but he stayed only for 1 month. She contends he is lazy and prefers to stay at home doing
nothing. Her parents always complain about him, but he has no motivation. She decided
to work for MAA because it is a very well established company and is very well known
in Qwiha. She took a 45 days training. Initially she thought that work could be difficult,
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but soon after she realized that it was about very simple tasks. During the training she
also got a salary of about 700 ETB.
12) Female, 21, has been working for MAA garment for the past 5 months. She has
Grade 10 from school and a diploma in accounting that she got from the Libanos College
in Qwiha. She would like to specialise on printing, she already agreed with her
supervisors that as soon as the company will organise the next training they’ll make sure
to include her. She is now categorised as helper, meaning that she assists other operators
in doing their job. She is married and currently lives with her husband, they have one son
of 1 year and 4 months. Her husband is a civil servant and works at the electrical
authority. He gets between 2000 and 2500 ETB/month. Her gross salary is 1200 ETB, net
becoming 1040 ETB. However, as she is often absent, she normally gets around 800
ETB. The reason why she is often absent is because she has no family support for her
child and she often has to take care of him. The baby goes to kindergarten and when he is
sick she has no other option but to skip work. They are originally from a place about 70
km from Qwiha from which they relocated 5 years ago, and they have no one that can
take care of the children. Main expenses are rent (600 ETB) and kindergarten (300 ETB).
Their total income is sufficient but they do not manage to save. She also notes that
currently she is pregnant and that soon another baby will add additional pressure on
family budget. MAA provides maternity of about 3-4 months. However, she is not sure
whether she will be able to come back to work after the maternity leaves. It very much
depends if someone else from her family will be able to join and help. Her dream is to go
back to school and upgrade her diploma on accounting. In Qwiha there is a University
College that offers such possibility. She believes that current industrial development in
Tigray is a very positive development because it will generate new job opportunities.
13) Female, 21, has been working in the company for 1 years and 5 months, her current
level is Operator 2. She received a technical training of 1 month at the beginning. She has
got a Grade 10 and she is currently studying to get a Diploma at the Libanos College in
Qwuiha. The Diploma degree runs over 3 years and she’s currently half way through. The
fee for College is 200 ETB/month, and classes run from 6 to 9pm every day. Before
enrolling in the training she had her own cooperative association (a MSE) and they
produced cobblestones. The got a public contract from the city administration for 3
months, but this goes on rotation, and after the initial period the contract was not renewed
because it was given to a different company. As a result the company went out of
business because no one else would give them jobs. In those 3 months when they had the
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public contract she managed to make a profit of 20000ETB, so it was a very profitable
business, but without public contracts very unsustainable. After that she worked at the
MAA cafeteria for about a year, her salary was about 728 ETB. She then became an
operator and initially the salary was the same, but now she gets about 1200 ETB/month.
She attended a 1 month training, which she enjoyed very much, and was not difficult to
understand. She never gets absent, unless there are very compelling and urgent matters.
She is originally from Quiha and she currently lives by herself because her parents live
nearby the Mekelle Industrial Park, on the other end of the city. Rent is 350/month plus
the utilities. As her salary is never enough, she gets support from her family, often in
kind. But she is determined to complete her diploma, which is the main reason why she is
in Qwiha. It’s been 3 years since she’s been living by herself, before she was living with
one of her sisters, who also lives in Qwiha. She has some money on the side because of
the cobblestone business, and her dream is to open at some point in time her own
business, perhaps juice shop. The current trend of industrial development is positive
because it provides new job opportunities, it helps people to get critical skills, and is good
for the development of the country as a whole.
14) Female, 32, she has been working for MAA for the past 7 months. She graduated in
2005 and then took care of her two daughters at home. She is married and her two
daughters are 8 and 14. She took a training of 45 days before starting the job on both
technical and soft skills. Initially a ‘helper’, after the training she was promoted to
Operator 1. Her husband is the deputy director of a high school and his salary is 4800
ETB (6000 gross). They pay a rent of 580 ETB which includes also utilities. She decided
to start working because life is getting increasingly expensive, her net salary is currently
1044 ETB. She’s never been absent because her daughters go to school. She perform her
household duties after work when she comes back. The work schedule is from Monday to
Friday until 5pm, Saturday until 2pm. She does not like the textile job very much, but this
is far better than staying idle in a context where life is getting increasingly expensive.
Working is important because you get skills that can help you in the future. What she
does not like is that the management is not flexible when it comes to grant permission for
holidays and days off, and that different supervisors give her different instructions and
then they rebuke her because she is not doing what she was told initially. Also salaries are
very low considering the amount of work. But she does not see her future in the industry
anyway. They are currently building their own house and the idea is to also build a small
shop attached to the property. So after the construction phase will be completed she will
resign from work.
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15) Female, 24, she has worked for MAA garment in the past 6 years. She is currently
Operator 3, and she attended training when she started of 1 month. She attended an
additional 3 days training on entrepreneurship sometimes after. She lives with her
parents, who are traders of traditional Ethiopian garment and textile. Altogether they are
3 sisters and 2 brothers. Two of the sisters now live by themselves as they established
their own family. The other sister is a student currently enrolled on Grade 10. One of the
two brothers is also a student currently attending Grade 5, the other already graduated and
works at the airport in the field of maintenance while attending college. Her gross salary
is 1600, net 1390 ETB. Her family does not ask to contribute to family budget. She retain
a majority of her salary for herself. She has got an equb worth 500 ETB/month, which
means that she saves at lest 6000 ETB/year. In general she likes working at MAA
because this allows her to learn skills that she can use in the future. Negative aspects are
that salaries are low; the supervisors are not always efficient and helpful with basic
operators; she’s been working here for a long time now, but the initial expectations to
climb rapidly the career ladder have not me the reality quite yet. Her goal is to save some
more money to then be able to open her own business, ideally a cosmetic boutique. She
thinks that by next year she will have enough money from the equb. In general the current
trend towards industrialization is positive for Mekelle because it is creating job
opportunities for unemployed youth. She also hopes that more factories will mean more
competitions for labour force and therefore better salaries. But she is currently not
interested to move to a different company, her focus is on her own business. Once she
will establish the business she plans to start college as well.
16) Female, 28, has been working at MAA for the past 8 years. Before that she was a
student, she obtained Grade 10. Between her studies and employment she spent one year
looking for jobs. She lives by herself. Her family’s house is 40km away from the factory.
She has 1 child of 9 years and she is divorced. Her net salary is 1390 ETB/month, when
she started it was 320 ETB. Currently her rent is 600 ETB. As her salary is not enough,
her father sends her money quite regularly. She also receives help in kind from other
family members from time to time. She is always at work and she tries her best to be
absent as less as possible. She never tried to find alternative jobs because she believes her
qualification does not allow her to find something better. Her dream is to start her own
business. Ideally she would like to buy her own sewing machine and start her own
garment shop. While initially she had high expectations about the factory job, she
believes that the fact that her salary is so low does not allow any real change in her life.
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However, this is the best that is currently available as no many alternatives are out there
waiting for her. The textile industry has the advantage that creates many jobs for young
unemployed people; however the problem is that this never translates into the expected
change for a higher lifestyle.
17) Female, 24, she has been working at MAA for the past 8 years. Her education
background is Grade 10, then she took a training at the TVET college on garment for two
years before finding employment at MAA. Before starting she took an additional 1 month
in-factory training. She is a senior operator, her gross salary is 1720 ETB, net 1490 ETB.
She lives with her parents in Mekelle, she has got 1 sister and 2 brothers, who are all
living at home. She is the oldest sibling; all of her brothers and sisters are still studying. 1
is at college, 1 is currently taking Grade 10, and 1 is at the university. Her father is a
retired civil servant, while her mother is housewife. Most of her money salary contributes
to her family budget: this is needed to cover the studying fees of her siblings. What she
likes about her job at MAA is that she can get skills for her future and that she can
currently provide substantial financial support to her family. However, the cost of life is
increasing sharply and salaries as they stand now are very low. Her dream is to open a
shop in Mekelle. She is currently trying to save some money, but she is also looking at
the opportunity to borrow some money through microfinance institutions. In the past 8
years she nonetheless did not look for other jobs, she was fine at MAA and she believes it
is difficult for her to find a better alternative considering her education level. In general,
the current industrialization trend is positive for Mekelle because it is opening up new job
opportunities.
Qwiha training centre (January 2018)
18) Female, 26, Grade 10 completed 5 years ago. This is her third week of training at the
DBL facility. For 5 years she worked in Saudi Arabia as a housekeeper, and 5 months
ago came back. Going back was her own decision and not because of repatriation of
Ethiopians. She contends that as development was coming to Ethiopia she wanted to
explore job opportunities back home. She lives at the house of her sister, her 4 children,
and her father, who is now retired and gets a pension. The four children are all students,
between Grade 2 and 10. Her sister is a cleaner at a military base in the area, she
approximately gets 1000 ETB/month. Her sister’s husband was working in the military
and is now retired. She believes that the textile industry is a very good opportunity for
people around Mekelle. She likes the training very much, and she feels this is good for
her future. Through the training she feels she can get jobs not only at DBL, but also at
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some other companies. Her ultimate aspiration is to be able to open her own business.
However, she thinks that after the training she’ll get a good salary in the textile sector. In
broad terms she is confident that the textile sector will bring development to the local
economy, and particularly job opportunities for youth and women. In her view, thanks to
the textile sector and other industrial developments, Mekelle in 10 years is going to look
like a developed country.
19) Female, 21, she was awarded a diploma in water supply management 3 years ago at
the Water Technology Institute, Open University in Mekelle. She thought that we the
diploma degree she would have been able to find a job in the field of water management,
but so far her expectations were not met by reality. She tried the avenue of civil service,
and particularly local government offices, but they all look for candidates with job
experience. This discarded her from being competitive. She also applied to other jobs but
unsuccessfully. Her last application was for a position of messenger but was
unsuccessful. She lives with her father and 3 sisters. Her father runs a construction
business. One sister works in the police, one in the marching band of the police
department, the third is a secretary. Her expectations about the training is to get
employment as soon as possible with DBL, and at the same time to get critical skills that
allow to seek for job in the industry at large. She heard about the training from other
people that attended it before. Her preference would be to get employment at DBL
because she thinks they are serious and the training is very well done. More broadly, the
textile industry and industrialization are positive for Tigray because they can provide jobs
to unemployed youth and women. In 10 years Mekelle will be very different only if the
youth of today will find proper jobs. Asked about she sees herself in ten years, she
responded that she will try her best to have an established business that create jobs for
other people. She really likes the training and how the trainers teach in the class. The
training is meeting her expectations; she is positively impressed about the openness of
trainers to listen and to respond to questions.
20) Female, 19, completed Grade 10 in 2015, then she started a 2 years degree at college
which she is going to complete next year. Her diploma is in accounting and as she takes
the evening class, she has enough time to work during the day. She thought that taking
the training would have helped her to find a job. Getting a job in the textile industry
would be a good way to earn some money in the mean time she finds a better job in
accounting. She lives with her uncle from the father side, at a locality known as Laj,
which is approximately 10 ETB away from the Qwiha training centre. The training
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organization gives her 20 ETB every day to pay for transport and other minimal costs.
Her uncle was a guard and is now retired with pension. His wife works at home. They
also have a daughter, who has a PhD degree and now works in Addis Ababa. From the
training she expects to get enough skills to be able to find employment in the sector.
Where she lives now is close by to Velocity. She actually learnt about the training
through a friend that works there. She also wanted to apply for a job at Velocity but at the
time she started looking they had already filled all the positions. She considers the
experience of her friend not very positive. She was asked to sign a contract for 3 years at
800 ETB/month. Ultimately she did not sign the contract because she thought it was
unfair, and because of fear of retaliation in case she would quit the job earlier than the 3
years. Considering how she was treated during training she believes that DBL is a better
employer. She feels she can leave any time and there are no particular obligations. She
did not discuss details about work conditions, but she expects a minimum salary of 1500
ETB/month after graduating from the training. In broad terms, the expectation about all
the big companies currently investing in Tigray is that they will create jobs bringing
development for the area of Mekelle, and for Ethiopia more broadly. In ten years she sees
herself running her own business, and hopefully giving jobs to other people.
21) Female, 19, she completed Grade 10 one year ago. She then started a job as time
keeper in one of the military bases around Mekelle. When she heard about the
opportunity offered by DBL with the training she decided to quit her job and start the
training. Her job was paid much more than the average starting salary in the textile, with
over time the salary could reach 1800 ETB/month. The reason why she quit is because
she is confident that she can go back and work at the military base if the textile job does
not turn out as expected. She obtained a letter certifying her competences, so she is pretty
much sure that she can go back anytime. The problem with that job is that she did not see
a future in it. For instance she mentions that there was even a bus service bringing her
back and forth to the city. Originally she is from the countryside, about 20 km away from
Qwiha, 7 ETB by minibus. But she now lives in Qwiha because of the training. Her sister
is also attending the same training, so they have rented a house together, paying a rent of
450 ETB. Her father is a farmer. He has about 1 ha of land but scattered in several small
plots. In addition they have a small plot of irrigated land. In the former they produce
wheat, sorghum and teff, in the latter vegetables. While the non-irrigated land is for their
own family consumption, the irrigated one produces vegetable for the market. Altogether
they are 3 sisters and 3 brothers, all involved in agricultural activities with the family
land. Her sister was previously also working at the open market for the kebele. She
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quitted the job to get the opportunity of the training with DBL. She mentions that her
fathers left them quite free to choose what to do. She actually encouraged them to find
jobs out of agriculture. The decision to quit the job at the military base and to start the
training was her own choice. She really respects her father (who is also a priest) and
helped her to open a bank account to save the money that she made with the military job.
Once she will start the textile job she expects an initial salary of about 1000 ETB that
then can grow over time.
22) Female, 20, she completed Grade 10 three years ago but struggled to find a job after
that. Originally she comes from the surroundings of Adwa. She learnt about the training
from some friends a neighbouring village who also took the opportunity. To cut the costs
she and these two friends decided to share a house altogether in Qwiha. They get 20
ETB/day from DBL, plus she gets support from her family. She really like the training
and she is eager to learn as many things as possible in order to be able to get a job in the
sector. Her father is a farmer. He has 0,25 ha of land and he produces staple crops for
family consumption. She has 5 between brothers and sisters and they are all living at
home. Some of them are student, but in different ways and extents they all help with the
land. Once she learnt about the training her father encouraged her to take the chance and
do the training. Her primary focus is now to find a job as soon as possible so that she can
help her family.
23) Male, 19, completed Grade 10 three years ago. He lives with his parents just outside
of Qwiha. In the past 5 months he worked in the construction site of DBL as daily
workers. His task was being ‘helper’ of other metal workers. After some time he became
a welder. Initially he was making 60-70 ETB/day, then 120 ETB/day. He now enrolled in
the training for printing. He would prefer to get a job in printing rather than keep working
as a welder. But the main reason why he decided to do the training is because after the
construction will be completed he still wants to try to work for DBL. For the duration of
training he lives in Qwiha together with a friend, they share a rent of 300 ETB/month. He
has 3 brothers. 2 are married and live very close to the family house. The third in the
summertime he helps with agricultural works on the family land, in winter he works for a
cooperative producing cobblestones. They have 1,5 hectares of land. Her father and
mother are divorced, his brother and him are living with her mother, and the land belongs
to her. They produce wheat, sorghum and teff. Sometimes they sell some wheat, but they
consume most of what they produce. From the printing job he expects an initial salary of
1500 ETB, but with the expectation that this will increase over time. Industrialization is
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very positive for Tigray and for the country. Big companies are important because they
expose Mekelle to the international context. Asked how he will see himself in 10 years,
he contends that if he gets the DBL job he will get married and have many children.
24) Male, 19, completed Grade 10 last June and has been unemployed for the past 5-6
months. He is originally from the area of Adwa. But one of his older brothers lives in
Qwiha, so he started looking for jobs in the area. He learnt about the textile job from a
friend. What he expects from the training is to become competent in basic operations and
acquire enough skills to get a good job. His brother is employed in a construction
company, they are currently building a new plastic factory. When he relocated from his
home village he thought to find employment in the construction sector like his brother,
but now that he is taking the training he is more interested in getting a textile job. His
dream is to start his own textile related business by himself. His parents live still around
Adwa. His father also works on construction, his mother at home. He has also two young
sisters that currently are students. The current trend towards industrialization is very
positive for Ethiopia. The main problem today is unemployment. Youth need to be given
the opportunity to build their own future.
25-26) Two females, both 20. They came to enrol in the training while I was concluding
another interview. I then asked them to stay a bit longer to be interviewed, and they
agreed. They are both from Mekelle. They heard about the training from a friend who is
already registered. One of the two is attending Grade 10 now, the other completed it 4
years ago. During this period of time she has been unemployed for three years, then she
worked for 1 year as shop attendant. She decided to quit because her salary was 500
ETB/month. What they expect from the training is to get some skills to be employable in
the textile industry, hopefully with DBL. Their dream is however not to work for big
companies, but rather to be able to set up their own business. Asked why it is so difficult
to find a job for young people today in Ethiopia, they respond that many people just stay
at home and don’t get exposed to information about potential opportunities. This
generates anxiety and as a result depression. Another reason is that young people are very
selective these days about the jobs they want to do. They believe they can immediately
get very well paid positions, without thinking that they have to start from less competitive
jobs first. They are picky. Other people have in their mind a career as civil servant as
their ideal job. Starting your own business is today very complicated because you need
capital and a very good business plan. Both of their families are relatively wealthy. The
parents of one of the two girls are civil servants; the others are working for good
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companies. They mention that the decision to enrol in the training was their own, and that
their family did not push nor encourage them. They expect an initial salary of about 1500
ETB/month when they will start working at DBL. They will however also accept less
than that provided that they can get into a career ladder. But most importantly now, they
need to find a job for their future.
27) Female, 25. Before starting the training, for the past 3 years she worked for a nursery
of plants managed by a private company getting contracts from the Ministry of
agriculture. Recently they had to restructure the company because the business was losing
money, so she was fired. She spent the past year at home and not particularly looking for
a job. She is married and has a 6 years old son. Her husband works at the Ministry of
agriculture. She does not know exactly how much is his salary, but he gives her 3000
ETB for household expenses. On top of that he has a small workshop where he does
woodwork privately. They live in Mekelle and they have a rent of 1000 ETB/month.
From the training she expects to get skills that will help her to find a job in the sector. She
known no one that works on other textile companies, so she does not know exactly what
are the work conditions. As life is getting more and more expensive, her husband and she
agree that they need some extra money, this is why she is seeking employment. While she
is at work her son will be at school, so a job in the textile industry would be ideal. In ten
years she would see herself starting her own business. This could be related to the textile
industry or about something else, a normal shop.
28) Female, 26. She has a certificate for teaching at school (TTI) that she got in Adwa,
where she is originally from. She worked as a teacher for REST, the Tigrayan veterans
association. She had a permanent position there, but then she decided to move to Saudi
Arabia to work as a domestic worker. She went there legally, worked for 8 months, then
she faced a lot of problems and then she had to come back. She came back approximately
4 years ago. For two years she was working in a coffee house but it did not go as
expected. So for the past two years she tried to move again to Saudi Arabia but she was
not successful. She also considered to go to Italy via the illegal migration route. She was
finally convinced by her family who was strongly against that. She also explored the
opportunity to go back working for REST, but the problem there is that they now hire
teacher with a diploma, a certificate is no longer enough. After she returned from Saudi
Arabia she tried to upgrade her education but she did not manage to complete her
diploma studies. Ultimately, she really regrets that she decided to move to Saudi Arabia
in the first place. To go there she had to pay 16000 ETB. Half of it came from savings,
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half from her family. When she came back from Saudi Arabia she had 5000 ETB. Her
hope is that she will be able to find a job that meet her expectations. She considers herself
as hardworking but unlucky so far. Her salary expectation from the training is
1500ETB/month with increasing of payment over time.
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Annex 2. Training Manual on Technical Skills for Basic Operators
The Annex has been attached as a separate file.
Annex 3. Training Manual on Middle Management
The Annex has been attached as a separate file.
Annex 4. Training Manual for Managers
The Annex has been attached as a separate file.
Annex 5. Training Manual on Soft Skills
The Annex has been attached as a separate file.