2019 to 2024
Client
Mastercard Foundation
Sector
Manufacturing, youth employment
Target
530,000 Jobs 15,000 Enterprises
Regions
Federal, Addis Ababa, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Harari, Oromia, Sidama, Somali, SNNP
BRIDGES is a five-year programme (2019-2024) implemented by First Consult in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, aiming to create 530,000 youth jobs with a focus on empowering women across Ethiopia.
The program supports youth and MSMEs in manufacturing through skills training, mindset development, market linkages, and access to finance. With over 35 interventions in industries like fishing, mining, and furniture making, BRIDGES addresses key barriers in skills, finance, and market access to create lasting impact.
The program operates through four strategic focus areas, or “bridges,” linking participants to new opportunities.
BRIDGES, one of the flagship programmes implemented by First Consult.
Strategic Focus Areas
Enterprise Development BRIDGE (EDB):
The Enterprise Development Bridge (EDB) empowers unemployed youth with life skills, employability training, and entrepreneurial support, including Business Development Services and industry-specific technical training. EDB also connects participants to financial institutions for funding opportunities.
A key digital initiative under EDB, Awaqi, is a youth focused online platform designed to foster entrepreneurship by providing engaging content on mindset development, entrepreneurship, and employability. Through social media and web platforms, Awaqi offers short videos, training materials, and job opportunities to help youth secure employment or start their own businesses.
The Workforce Development Bridge connects job seekers to industrial employment by streamlining recruitment and training for industrial parks. Through screening and orientation programs, it improves job placement and retention.
Key initiatives include the TATARI savings scheme, which helps workers adapt to new environments, and WEAR (Workers Engagement and Retention), an audio-visual training program covering urban transition, workplace safety, and life skills. Narrated by the character Aster, WEAR delivers engaging multilingual content to new workers and trainers across Ethiopia. BRIDGES has also created a generic version of WEAR to promote industrial work culture and skills transfer on a larger scale.
The Workers Engagement and Retention (WEAR) soft skills training programme
WEAR delivers essential knowledge for new factory workers, covering areas such as urban transition, workplace safety, and life skills, using engaging content narrated by a character named Aster. Available in multiple languages, these training materials are provided to workers and trainers across Ethiopia. BRIDGES has developed a generic version of WEAR to promote broader industrial work culture and skills transfer.
Access to Finance (A2F) Bridge
The Access to Finance (A2F) Bridge addresses the financial challenges of MSMEs by partnering with financial institutions to close the financing gap. It supports youth access to credit through policy revisions, capacity building, innovation, and creating linkages between enterprises and financial institutions.
As part of BRIDGES, A2F expands access to finance as a crosscutting initiative, benefiting workers in industrial parks and MSMEs across Ethiopia.
Enterprise Competitiveness Bridge (ECB)
The Enterprise Competitiveness Bridge (ECB) boosts the competitiveness of local manufacturers and suppliers. With Ethiopia’s foreign direct investments exceeding USD 4 billion annually, ECB helps local enterprises meet market demands from large FDI firms. This includes import substitution, building B2B relationships, and launching job creation projects.
ECB’s three-pronged approach supports local value addition, outsourcing, and technology transfer, helping enterprises seize opportunities and drive economic growth. By addressing market information gaps and fostering B2B connections, ECB contributes to job creation and strengthens Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector.