The 6th Round of the Bruh Ethiopia Innovative Business Idea Competition 2025 concluded by recognizing 100 winners!

The 6th Bruh Ethiopia Innovative Business Ideas Competition and Bootcamp (Bruh 2025), a major national initiative empowering youth entrepreneurship, successfully concluded on December 6, 2025, at Haile Grand Hotel in Addis Ababa. The event recognized 100 innovative business idea winners selected from a competitive field of 242 contestants.

Held under the guiding theme “Train, Award, Empower,” the program is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Labor and Skills (MoLS), the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), SNV, and Mercy Corps.

The culmination ceremony followed an intensive 10-day bootcamp, which kicked off in Bishoftu on November 25, providing participants with intensive training, mentorship, and the opportunity to develop and improve prototypes of their technologies.

H.E. Ato Solomon Soka, State Minister of the Ministry of Labor and Skills, in the ceremony stressed the national importance of the program. "Entrepreneurship is the pillar of nation-building," stated H.E. Ato Solomon Soka. "Competitors became winners the day they started working to find solutions for problems they had identified. Therefore, all participants in this competition are truly winners."

The State Minister also highlighted the visible potential emerging from the bootcamp: “We were able to see that there are many potential innovative ideas that can emerge from this competition, and we have also seen capacities that can generate innovation.” He affirmed the government’s commitment to providing post-bootcamp support, ensuring their ideas "are implemented on the ground to solve community problems."

Hassen Hussien (PhD), CEO of EDI, emphasized the transformative power of the initiative in his welcoming remarks at the event. “Challenges are opportunities for innovation,” Dr. Hassen said. “We are excited to enhance the next generation of job creators and support youth-led solutions to national challenges.”

Over its previous five rounds, Bruh Ethiopia Innovative Business Idea competition has contributed to the successful launch of 580 startups and the generation of over 30,000 jobs, firmly establishing it as a vital engine for economic growth and youth employment.

On this Bruh Ethiopia 2025, the recognition of the 100 award recipients marks the beginning of the next phase, where these innovators will receive tailored support to transition their groundbreaking ideas from prototypes into thriving market-based enterprises.