Ethiopia

ITC partners with the Netherlands to support African business

ITC’s NTF V programme is designed to contribute to decent jobs and improved livelihoods in the agribusiness, agritech and digital technology sectors. To that end, we aim to:

• Increase the competitiveness of thousands of MSMEs
• Increase sales of supported companies to hit $90 million 
• Support thousands of jobs and positively impact more than 200,000 people as a result 
• Bring in-kind contributions to create an additional 50% of project value 

Our programme includes both sectors in Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, and the digital technologies sector in a multi-country project in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Uganda. In Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal, ITC is working with smallholder agribusiness farmers focused on cocoa and coffee, associated crops, and horticulture.

See below for more project details.

ITC partners with the Netherlands to support African agribusiness 

Ethiopia is the fifth-largest coffee-producing country in the world and considered to be the birthplace of coffee. Ethiopians are big coffee drinkers, consuming approximately half of what they produce. Coffee is part and parcel of their culture and the centrepiece of community and social gatherings. 

It is also the country’s main export crop, contributing to the livelihoods of more than five million smallholder farmers. Smallholders are the backbone of the coffee supply, with approximately 5.3 million small-scale farmers and cooperatives producing 90% of the national output. Coffee is mainly produced in the Oromia and Southern Nation, Nationalities and People’s Region, with minor production in the Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.  

While Ethiopia is a well-established coffee producer and exporter, its farmers still often struggle to make a decent living and bottlenecks persist in the sector. The project’s overall objective is to contribute to decent jobs and improved livelihoods in Ethiopia’s coffee sector. The expected outcome is the facilitation of value chain alliances that are more sustainable, resilient and inclusive and generate additional trade and investment for farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). 

The NTF V Agribusiness project has been designed and will be implemented through the Alliances for Action (A4A) methodology. A4A is a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together private and public actors to promote competitiveness and income-risk diversification for smallholder farmers and MSMEs. Above all, A4A improves commercial linkages and participation in trade by targeting value chain operators and focusing on several product-market combinations.  

Objectives 

• Identify market opportunities and new buyers in the domestic, regional and international market for the coffee sector and associated crops. 
• Strengthen public-private alliances to support the development of more solid ecosystems, including through digital applications.  
• Build capacities of support institutions and stakeholders along the coffee value chain. That includes producers, MSMEs, and social enterprises. We work for more competitive and resilient commercialization and production, with a focus on digital and other support services. We work on market access and market intelligence tools, product development/innovation, compliance with quality standards, certification, sustainability principles, access to finance. 
• Facilitate linkages for SMEs, social enterprises and producer associations with international, regional and domestic partners, business and investment opportunities. 

ITC partners with the Netherlands to support African business

With more than 114 million people in 2020, Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country.

• With a large domestic market, Ethiopia’s economic growth averaged 9.4% a year from 2010 to 2020.
• The number of mobile users grew from 17.2 million in 2011 to 46.15 million in 2020.
• IT-based service providers, mainly MSMEs, offer export potential
• Some 70% of university students graduate in science, engineering or technology, according to the Ministry of Innovation and Technologies.

About 20% of Ethiopians had internet access in January 2021. But internet speeds are still slow. In May 2020, Ookla’s SppedTest ranked Ethiopia 105th in the world for mobile data speeds and 152nd in fixed-line broadband. ICT services are still expensive, due to the country's lack of a liberal business environment, especially in telecoms. Ethiopia is working on two reforms that could improve the situation, with a proposed liberalisation of telecoms and a break-up of Ethio telecom into infrastructure and service businesses.

The Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy has marshalled government support for the IT and business process outsourcing sectors. The Ministry of Innovation and Technology designed the strategy to focus on four industries that can create the most jobs: agriculture, manufacturing, ICT and services, and tourism. The strategy has a particular focus on agritech.

Objectives: 

The NTF V Project in Ethiopia aims at strengthening tech start-ups, with a focus on agritech and MSMEs. The project works to create a supportive environment for IT and related businesses, through engagement with policymakers and regulators; trade, investment support institutions; private business support providers; and international business partners. The ambition is to contribute to rebuilding back better with a focus on MSMEs in digital technologies. Our trade-related technical support is three-fold:

• At the policy level: We assist in developing or improving public policies and sectoral regulations, with private-sector representatives.
• At the institutional level: We work with digital business associations and tech hubs to increase their sustainability and impact.
• At the start-up and MSME level: We develop market access and build international competitiveness.
   

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