The Ethiopian Development Research Institute urged policy makers and practitioners to help infant micro and small manufacturing enterprises gain access to finance, market, and work space. The institute issued a baseline survey report titled “Main Features of Micro and small Manufacturing Enterprises in Ethiopia” which was conducted on manufacturing MSEs operating in 10 large cities. The authors of the report selected 8,174 samples from the total enterprises found in these cities.

According to Mulu Gebreyesus, who is one of the researchers, access to market is an essential driving factor for the development of micro and small manufacturing enterprises. However, the report shows that only 6% of the sampled enterprises benefitted from access to market supported by the country’s development strategy of MSEs. As a result, Ato Mulu Recommended that policymakers and practitioners should create favorable environment through which the MSEs would have access to market and be encouraged to look for market linkage.

Abebe Ambachew, who is also a contributor to the report, said in order to achieve sustainable growth in the sector, access to finance is also vital.

The report shows that 72,584 jobs are created by MSEs in 10 major cities.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency