Digital skills help boost income in Ethiopia

Finn Church Aid’s first programme in Ethiopia aims to improve the livelihoods of the capital’s young population.

Text & photos: Björn Udd

ETHIOPIA IS struggling with internal political strife, high inflation and severe youth unemployment. In October 2024, Finn Church Aid (FCA) opened a country office that aims to create more diverse livelihood opportunities for young people. In tandem, FCA is growing its focus on supporting creative and digital industries.

The initial FCA programme in Ethiopia takes place in the capital Addis Ababa and trains young people in digital marketing.

“When I was deciding what to study, my older brother persuaded me to study accountancy. At the time, it seemed like a safe bet. Then the Corona pandemic hit and a lot of jobs disappeared. When I graduated, there were no jobs to apply for,” says Eyerusalem Baye, 25.

Baye applied and was accepted to the newly opened Creators Hub programme. She will study digital marketing for six months.

“After the programme, I hope to start a company that does digital marketing. In this industry, you can work both within Ethiopia and for foreign clients. I see several opportunities.”

Baye lives with her mother and two of her brothers. Her father has been forced to flee the country. While he’s doing his best to support the family from abroad, he also needs to support himself in his new home country.

A university education was possible for Baye as it is free in Ethiopia, but a course in digital marketing was harder to find.

“A course like this would cost 20,000 Birr (about €150). That’s money I don’t have.”

In Ethiopia, youth unemployment is high, especially in urban areas. This means that young women in particular are easily excluded from the labour market.

Creators hub youth connect in person and digitally

IN OCTOBER 2024, Finn Church Aid (FCA) opened both a country office and new projects in Ethiopia. The first project to start was the Creators Hub marketing course. In the course, Baye and her 50 or so classmates not only learn technical skills. They are also networking.

“Creators Hub can be a physical place, like the hub we just opened in Addis Ababa or the one we already have in Nairobi, but it is also a digital environment. We want young people studying here to be able to connect and collaborate digitally,” says Fladwel Rawinji, who is responsible for FCA’s work with creative industries.

The idea is that young people can useful contacts with other youth in similar situations. They can co-operate and also employ each other when they need support in projects. This system has been running in FCA’s country programmes in Kenya and Uganda for some years now with good results.

“We have trained over 300 young people in Kenya and 200 in Uganda so far. What we see is that the young people who have gone through our training have been able to increase their income to a minimum of about €200 a month. This is already helping a lot,” says Rawinji.

The programme also focuses in part promoting oneself and actually getting jobs that are available.

“Within three months of graduation, 60 per cent of our students find a job in the industry,” says Rawinji.

For Baye, this is appealing. She hopes the course will give her a chance to combine all her skills as she sets up her own business. In addition to bookkeeping and digital marketing, she has learnt graphic design on her own.

“I hope we also learn web development. Creating websites is a useful skill,” says Baye.

By broadening her knowledge in different areas, she hopes her business will be successful.

“In the future, I want to be wealthy. Then I can use some my income to help others.”