With ILO, Ethiopia’s Jigjiga University transforms into an entrepreneurship hub

Jigjiga, ETHIOPIA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with Jigjiga University has established a Business and Technology Incubation Center (BTIC) which institutionalizes ILO’s enterprise development tools and promotes inclusive entrepreneurship. This collaboration fosters economic opportunities for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in the region.

The BTIC now serves as a hub where innovative ideas are transformed into viable businesses. With ILO’s technical and material support, the center offers internationally certified entrepreneurship training, structured mentoring, and incubation services to university students and graduates, while opening pathways for engagement with surrounding communities.

The initiative is supported under the PROSPECTS Partnership, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which aims to move beyond humanitarian assistance by strengthening self-reliance, decent work and access to sustainable livelihoods. The establishment of the BTIC directly contributes to this objective by expanding market-oriented skills, entrepreneurship opportunities and inclusive economic participation for refugees and host communities.

Journey from concept to institution

The idea for the incubation center emerged from Jigjiga University’s long-term aspiration to provide practical support to students beyond classroom learning. According to Ahenafi Daba, Coordinator of the BTIC and an ILO-certified Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) Master Trainer, the partnership with ILO marked a turning point for the university.

“With ILO’s guidance, our dream became a reality. This center directly addresses the gap in follow-up support that our graduate students often lacked after their initial entrepreneurship training. With the furnished, functional center and access to internationally recognized SIYB modules, we can now effectively guide aspiring entrepreneurs through their journey, from an idea to a launch,” he said.

The centre was officially launched in March 2023, but it was not operational due to insufficient resources. It was relaunched in May 2025 with the support of the ILO. The center operates through a structured model- idea creation, incubation, and business launch- providing aspiring entrepreneurs with training, mentorship, and seed funding. In its first cohort, the center organized a business plan competition for university staff and students, attracting 17 applicants. After intensive training and a competitive pitching process, five promising startups were selected each to receive 200,000 Birr (Approximately US $1,400) seed funding, enabling them to bring their ideas to life. Jigjiga University fully covered the costs of training and seed funding.

© JJU

© JJU

Supporting emerging entrepreneurs

Many of the refugee participants are from Somali communities who have sought safety in Ethiopia’s Somali Region due to conflict and instability. The initiative aligns with Ethiopia’s progressive refugee response framework by promoting self-reliance, inclusion in local economies, and access to national skills development systems.

Abdelkader Mohammed, founder of Amana Cleaning Services and a participant in the first incubation cohort, said, “I was fortunate to be one of the five businesses awarded seed funding. This center helps aspiring entrepreneurs, like me, to launch their businesses with guidance from experienced mentors and connects them to market opportunities”.

Fatih Abdi, a lecturer at Jigjiga Universtiy and a certified SIYB trainer, underlined the impact, “I received my SIYB training in Adama, but I couldn’t find a suitable place to conduct such trainings until now. This incubation center serves as a hub for education—not only for teachers and students but also for the broader community, including business owners. It’s a place where people, especially those interested in business, receive valuable training”.

To date, 150 individuals -147 women and 3 men - have been trained using ILO’s GET Ahead methodology. Among them, 98 participants are from the host community, 30 are refugees, and 22 are internally displaced persons (IDPs). This inclusive strengthens social cohesion while expanding access to skills, finance-readiness and business development services.

Institutionalizing ILO tools

A key milestone in the partnership has been the institutionalization of ILO’s SIYB tools. All entrepreneurship trainings delivered at the center now use ILO-certified modules, and trainers are required to hold ILO-certification. Jigjiga University currently has ten ILO-certified SIYB trainers and two Master Trainers, positioning it among the leading higher education institutions in Ethiopia in terms of certified SIYB training capacity.

The university has also secured authorization to reproduce and distribute ILO training materials, supported by equipment provided through the partnership.

Eirmyas Kaase, Senior Programme Officer at ILO, said, “This approach moves beyond short-term interventions and embeds entrepreneurship development into the university’s core systems. By integrating ILO’s globally recognized enterprise development tools into academic and extracurricular programs, Jigjiga University is ensuring that entrepreneurship is not treated as an optional activity but as a fundamental pillar of education.

Looking Ahead

Jigjiga University plans to expand the center both physically and programmatically. The university has approved designs for a dedicated building that will include a makerspace, a product showroom and conference facilities. Planned expansion also includes stronger outreach to surrounding communities and formal partnerships with regional government offices and non-governmental organisations. The University also plans to continue providing seed funding in the coming years.

Through this collaboration, the ILO and JJU are demonstrating how institutional partnerships can create sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystems. By embedding globally recognised enterprise development tools into higher education, this initiative is contributing to decent work, inclusive growth and long-term economic opportunities in Ethiopia’s Somali Region.