Mayors, private sector congregate to uplift municipalities

The first Mayors private sector conference has been held at Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa from May 6 to 7, 2021.
Being the first of its kind, the conference was organized by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce And Sectorial Association /ECCSA/, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Job Creation Commission, Ethiopian Cities Association, Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The conference was sponsored by the embassy of Sweden to accelerate the relation between cities and private business sector. The program is set to mark an important milestone in the roadmap towards the development of public private partnership, entrepreneurship and job creation as well.
More than 60 mayors, 70 business community, 20 businesses prominent have been participating on the conference. Panel desiccation, presentation, experience sharing was held during the interactive sessions.
The conference focuses on five thematic areas; job creation, business development, sustainable growth, urban revenue and going global.
Getachew Melkamu, program officer at Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and organizer of the session expressed that three outcomes are expected form the conference. “The conference allows cities to share experiences regarding business, helps to create network between cities and to build long term partnership with the private sector,” explained Getachew.
Trainings, apprenticeship and internship, key challenges and good practice in cities, changing mindset towards entrepreneurship, schemes and sources of financing and financing modalities, preserving cities while growing them, leveraging cities potential for other growth were the target areas of the conference.
The conference is expected to continue holding annually conferences as a flagship project of the ECCSA.