Enterprise Partners in support of industrial transformation

Enterprise Partners is a social enterprise funded by DfID. It was established to facilitate agro-industrial growth and enable access to finance in Ethiopia. Its focus is on job and income opportunites for poor people, particularly women.

This case study focuses mainly on the design and implementation of the project called Hawassa Industrial Park Sourcing and Training Employees in the Region (HIPSTER), which is just one of EP's interventions.

HIPSTER emerged as a means of supporting the development of better functioning industrial zones to progress Ethiopia’s industrial-led economic growth strategy.

Intervention description

The study looks at the challenges and solutions that emerged as EP facilitated the evolution of HIPSTER through a public-private partnership using a MSD approach. 

It explores the application of MSD in a public-sector driven context with a unique, and complex blend of public and private market actors and service delivery.

Evidence methodology

The study uses a quasi-experimental method to compare the performance and achievements of the Hawasa Park against other industrial parks. Hawasa performs better than the others and the study argues that this difference is mainly due to the investments made by the programme. However, there is no analysis of possible confounding variables that could be playing a role in the behaviour observed.

PEPE's results measurement system has passed an audit against the DCED standard.