National Advisory Group meeting Ethiopia – June 2024

On June 14th, 2024, the National Advisory Group meeting of Ethiopia took place at the Haile Grand Resort, Addis Ababa. Present were the representatives from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hawassa University's College of Agriculture, and members of the project management team of MOBILISE.

To start off the meeting, Dr. Ir. Huub Mudde welcomed everyone and gave an overview of the project progress and currently ongoing activities to welcome a new delegate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Abrehit Mehari. He highlighted the major activities and milestones achieved so far, demonstrating the project's progress and impact.

The first part of the discussion focused on the possible alternatives of traineeship participation for students who are not traveling to the Netherlands for the mobility period. As an alternative to a traineeship in the Netherlands, students who were not able to travel for the mobility period are offered a traineeship in companies in Ethiopia. As of now, two companies have been contacted and are willing to host the 6 students for the in-country traineeship.

Members of the advisory group then forwarded their questions regarding the next steps after the traineeship program. Ms. Alemfrie gave an explanation of the components of the return program of the project which includes an incubation program for those who plan to start their own companies and career support for those who want to join the workforce and seek employment. Seed money will be facilitated for the top competitive ideas and additional support will be facilitated to leverage the existing opportunities beyond the MOBILISE project.

To further add to the planning of the post-return program, recommendations were made by the board to reach out to private companies to identify gaps in their needs and guide the business ideas of students, to link the business ideas of students to their research projects; paying attention to the actual feasibility of doing so and starting a business, and additionally organizing a seminar where students participating in the mobility period will be able to share their talent development experiences with other students.

The next meeting of the National Advisory Group is planned to take place in Hawassa, following the students’ return from the Netherlands.