Enterprises Urged to Enhance Competitiveness Through Quality Standardization
EED Focuses on Scaling Up Best Practices in the Manufacturing Sector
ADDIS ABABA (EED) June (22/2026) — Ethiopian Enterprise Development (EED) has hosted a strategic stakeholder forum focused on identifying, compiling, and scaling up best practices among local enterprises, a move aimed at accelerating the nation’s structural economic transition.
Opening the forum, Deputy Director General of EED, Mr. Abdulfeta Yesuf, emphasized that domestic enterprises must strictly adhere to standardized production processes. Achieving quality standardization, he noted, is essential not only for dominating the domestic market but also for enabling local products to compete effectively on the global stage through exports.
The Deputy Director General recalled that high tariffs and import taxes were historically utilized as tools to shield domestic products from foreign competition. However, he pointed out that as Ethiopia advances its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), relying on prohibitive tariffs and trade restrictions is no longer a viable long-term strategy. Consequently, Mr. Abdulfeta urged enterprises to proactively prepare for open market competition by modernizing their machinery, improving efficiency, and strictly maintaining product quality.
Highlighting state support, Mr. Abdulfeta stated that the government is actively expanding credit and financial assistance to the manufacturing sector. Notably, the national Macroeconomic Team has decided to significantly increase the credit portfolio allocated to manufacturing, raising it from 12% to 20%.
To leverage this expanded financial pipeline, the Deputy Director General emphasized that enterprises must meet specific banking prerequisites and develop robust, viable business plans. He assured participants that EED, in collaboration with various financial institutions, will provide the necessary technical support to help enterprises draft professional business plans and compile required banking documentation.
Addressing supply chain vulnerabilities, Mr. Abdulfeta identified input shortages as another critical bottleneck for local enterprises. To mitigate this, he advised businesses to establish sustainable, direct linkages with primary raw material producers. Given that the majority of manufacturing inputs are tied to agro-processing and are available domestically, creating reliable local supply networks is vital for enterprise sustainability.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Abdulfeta reaffirmed the government’s commitment to addressing structural challenges faced by enterprises—specifically regarding working spaces, finance, and raw material inputs—while pledged that EED will continue to aggressively scale up successful industry models to catalyze sectoral growth.
#LetEthiopiaProduce_AndWeShallBuy
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