The Amhara regional state announced that it is working to create multiple job opportunities in the region.
Gizachew Muluneh, Director General of the Amhara Communication Affairs Office, said with the regional administration’s focus pinned on keeping regional peace and security, creating job opportunities remained on the back burner.
“Unless there is peace, the youth and other segments of society will not have development and new opportunities. I can say that the regional administration could not ensure the economic and social benefits of residents,” said Gizachew.
The director-general said that the region was drawn into peace and security measures after the June 23, 2019 failed coup attempt. But now, he added, the administration is working to create temporary and permanent job opportunities in the current fiscal year.
He further explained that the region aims to create 1.2 million job opportunities in the current fiscal year, with 80 percent of them presumed to provide permanent employment while the remaining are expected to be on a temporary basis.
Gizachew noted that the regional administration registered nearly 983,794 citizens for the employment scheme, with 796,566 of them receiving training on enhancing entrepreneurial skills and other related issues.
In the first quarter of this fiscal year, the director-general went on to state, 217,529 jobs have been created in the region, with most of them being on a permanent basis. He, however, underscored that the job opportunities created are still below the target set.
He also pointed out that agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and civil service are the sectors that played a major role in creating the job opportunities.
“Lack of access to loan services is one of the reasons for the low performance in job creation and there is a problem on loan allocation and returns,” said the director.
The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) allows loans to Enterprises, if they meet pre-conditions set by the institution on returns. Gizachew remarked that only a few enterprises achieve the target set by the institution.
Gizachew said there is around 2.4 billion birr available for providing loans, emphasizing the need to raise awareness on payment of loans by enterprises. Towards that end, he explained, a task force made up of officials from each zone of the region has been established to effectively control lending and loan activities.
By Elias Tegegn