In recent years Ethiopia has seen a high economic growth rate of around ten per cent. The government’s ambitious industrial policy shows its commitment to modernising the economy and integrating it globally. While doing so, it intends to improve the living conditions of all Ethiopians through education and employment. Ethiopia has identified six key sectors on which to focus its resources, which it sees as vital to its own economy as well as potentially competitive in the global market. These are agro-processing, textiles, construction, leather, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

This is where the Engineering Capacity Building Programme (ECBP) come into play. The ECBP is a reform programme of the Ethiopian Government, which it launched in 2005 in partnership with German development cooperation. Its objective is to improve the environment for economic and private sector development while strengthening economic performance and employment, especially in the priority sectors. This will be achieved by effecting market-oriented education reforms, upgrading the quality infrastructure, and creating an internationally recognised business sector.

The Government of Ethiopia will gradually introduce German and other international benchmarks to the Ethiopian economy and education system, and learn from outside
experiences while establishing stronger links to international markets. To this end, relationships are developing between Ethiopian and German organisations. Technical institutes and universities are entering twinning and cooperation agreements, and investment and trading activities are growing.

The ECBP promotes the country’s most valuable resource: its people. Investing in education and better employment opportunities helps Ethiopians realise their potential and break out of the cycle of poverty. The programme takes a dual approach: it improves the standard of training for graduates, while at the same time supporting the development of the private sector so that jobs are available for them. Comprehensive reforms of the universities and the national technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system with respect to engineering are helping to improve the delivery of educational services and increase the quality of graduates.

With its focus on the priority sectors, the ECBP supports sectors, value chains and businesses to become more competitive. At the same time, it works with relevant institutions to modernise and upgrade the national quality infrastructure to meet the demands of international markets, and is raising the amount public and private service provision aimed at the private sector.

So far, the ECBP has had a number of major impacts in Ethiopia, of which the following are just some of the more important examples.

Macro level

• National reforms of the university system, the TVET system and the quality infrastructure system have been developed based on international good practices and have been approved by the Government of Ethiopia.
• Value chain development has been introduced and is now accepted as an effective strategy for private sector development. It is seen to benefit business linkages and SME development; it promotes investment and the reorientation of  export businesses to focus on potentially competitive value chains.

Institutional level

• All engineering faculties now use revised curricula and have made internships a mandatory part of their courses. This means that Ethiopian universities are better able to meet international standards and students are better prepared for the needs of the labour market.
• With the electronic learning and library systems developed by the universities, as well as the related capacity development support given by the ECBP, the students now have 24-hour access to interactive education materials which enhance their learning process.
• Occupational standards and related assessment methods, developed in cooperation with local businesses, now guarantee that technical school graduates and professionals possess the skills and knowledge they need to practise their occupation.
• With new quality infrastructure institutions, the country is in a better position to ensure the safety and quality of its products for domestic as well as export markets. Companies can also obtain important certification more efficiently (e.g. ISO, BSCI, Eco-Tex).
• Ethiopia is changing its image and is becoming an attractive business location. For instance, a large German company, Ara Shoes, has begun production at a new factory in Ethiopia. It makes 500 pairs of shoes a day for the export market.