The government of Ethiopia plans to generate about 3 million jobs during the 2019-20 financial year, PM Abiy Ahmed (photo) said while addressing the parliament.

The official plans to reach this target with the implementation of reforms that will further open up the economy for foreign investment. Reforms were decided a few weeks ago and will focus on sectors including finance, telecoms and electricity.

Ahmed says most of the jobs will come from Small businesses. This will help deal with the 2 million job seekers who join the market every year.  About one-tenth of the population, are unemployed; this makes about 11 million people. “Our development and growth will be measured by the number of jobs created,” the official said.

Ethiopia’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the world. For the FY2018-19, the government estimates a 9.2% growth.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou