Ethiopia and Italy signed a cooperation agreement intended to gain the support of the latter for women to enter and grow in Ethiopia's leather industry. Signing the agreement were Yasmin Wohabrebbi, Ethiopia's State Minister of Finance, and Arturo Luzzi, Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia.
With a budget of €1 million, the program has the objective of helping promote entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for women in the leather industry. It plans to do so via enhancing entrepreneurial skills, strengthening market linkages, and networking opportunities, it was learned.
Ethiopia and Italy have also agreed on a deal to “build a labour market intermediation that supports economic transformation in Ethiopia”. The project, with a €4 million grant, aims to improve labor market outcomes in rural Ethiopia. It will "establish pilot rural job centers in three regions of the country providing services to vulnerable job seekers,” the Italian Embassy stated.