Ethiopia has great potential for growth, even in the rapidly growing region of Africa. The country has a population of 130 million, and a youthful population with an average age of 20 years old. It is also a country that economic development is accelerating every year and every month. Ethiopia's annual income was about $500 in 2010. It was $960 in 2020. There is a rule of thumb that when annual income exceeds $1,000, the number of people purchasing two-wheeled motorcycles increases. This rule of thumb was valid in Taiwan, Thailand, and Kenya. In Ethiopia, the import of gasoline-powered vehicles will be completely banned in 2022. This will put the use of gasoline-powered means of transportation in an environment that it will be suppressed. The Ethiopian government is focusing on promoting electric mobility businesses.
Generally, when the textile industry flourishes, the assembly industry of various products will flourish next. The seeds of this are beginning to appear in Ethiopia as well. Dodai is a global startup founded by Yuma Sasaki in 2021. The company aims to expand its electric mobility business across Africa from 2023 with Ethiopia as its main base. Dodai is a startup that works to solve mobility problems across Africa, mainly in urban areas. It is accelerating its expansion of local sales share by purchasing assembled electric motorcycles. It keeps costs down by assembling them into finished products in Ethiopia.
In order for many people to live in peace, food and jobs are necessary. Looking at Africa as a whole, there are weaknesses in industry, and a system is required to make daily necessities in the country. It is important to develop human resources that can produce little by little, even if it is a knock-down method. Yamaha and Suzuki in Shizuoka Prefecture actively cooperate with internships for international students. After they graduate, consideration is given to giving them an advantage in finding employment at Yamaha and Suzuki. Even if they return to their home countries and work for local companies, they are expected to be excellent human resources. Japan's technical assistance has been highly praised for its strong ability to transfer skills that can be used by local people for a long time. It is also necessary to look at the target country as a whole and determine where the bottlenecks that are slowing down the economy are. From now on, support to eliminate the bottlenecks will also be necessary. The Japanese government and Japanese companies would like to provide support from this perspective.