About ecbp

The Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp) is an ambitious reform program aimed at accelerating industrial development in Ethiopia. “Building Ethiopia” is its guiding motto and it is committed to improving the living standards of all Ethiopians.

To focus its resources the Ethiopian government has identified 6 key sectors, agro-processing, textiles, construction, leather, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, which are vital to the economy of Ethiopia and potentially competitive in the global market.

The program is the result of close cooperation between the Ethiopian and German governments. It was launched in November 2005 and has recorded impressive results. ecbp focuses on developing the private sector and the institutions that support it. It aims to create new employment, improve the skills of the country’s workforce, modernize the private sector and make Ethiopian products more competitive in international markets. ecbp is directed towards the country’s most valuable resource: its people. By investing in education and better employment opportunities, it helps Ethiopians realize their potential and break out of the circle of poverty.

ecbp’s approach is two-fold, on the one side it ensures that quality graduates are produced and on the other side it ensures that jobs are increasingly available for them. Quality graduates are ensured through comprehensive reforms of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and the university system.  With a focus on the selected key sectors, ecbp intervenes with national and international expertise to make the businesses, and the value chains that they are a part of, more competitive. At the same time, ecbp works with the Quality and Standards Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) to ensure that the National Quality Infrastructure is being modernized and upgraded so as to be able to integrate in international markets.

ecbp is an Ethiopian program, under the management of the Ministry of Capacity Building. The nine-year program – active in all 11 regions of Ethiopia – is ambitious but achievable and contributes to the rapid development of the count

Objectives

The overall objective of the accelerated Ethiopian Industrial Development Strategy is to increase the contribution of industry to sustainable growth of GDP, exports, employment and foreign exchange proceeds.

Within this, ecbp works primarily through these four objectives:

Private Sector Development – The institutional and legal conditions as well as company competitiveness are improved in the promoted economic sectors and the range of needs oriented business related services is enhanced.

Quality Infrastructure Reform – The Ethiopian Quality Infrastructure provides customer-friendly, demand-driven services in line with international guidelines.

TVET Reform – The services provided by the Ethiopian TVET system in the area of technical and entrepreneurial training are oriented to the needs of the labor market.

University Reform – Engineering and vocational training faculties in Ethiopian universities provide practice-oriented and needs-driven training.