Ethiopian company receives 2012 Award

Addis Ababa, June 22 (WIC) - Dream Light Solid Waste Management PLC, a company based in Bahirdar Town, Amhara State on Tuesday received the 2012 World Business and Development Award (WBDA), a joint press release issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and UNDP said.   

According to the release sent to ENA on Thursday, 11 companies drawn from Ethiopia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Ghana, India, Kenya, United Kingdom and United States received the 2012 Award under the categories of small- and medium-sized enterprise and large organizations.


The winners were recognized at a ceremony concluding the Business Action for Sustainable Development Business Day taking place during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

The Awards recognize innovative business models that deliver both commercial success and help improve social, economic or environmental conditions.   


The 2012 Awards attracted 115 applications from 38 countries showcasing a variety of inclusive business endeavors undertaken by associations, non-governmental organizations and individual companies.

Dream Light is engaged in collecting and recycling solid waste and from the waste producing bio-fuel, compost as well as smokeless briquettes for use by local communities.   

Dream Light Solid Waste Management PLC is a public-private joint venture that received support from the Local Economic Development (LED) Program.   

A group of thirteen local youth initiated Dream Light in 2008, but it was with the commencement of the LED Program in Bahirdar in 2009 that the waste management firm benefited from a public-private dialogue and partnership.   

Dream Light now employs over 300 youth and women, who are mostly from the vulnerable members of the community.   

The LED program in Ethiopia has been implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in collaboration with UNDP since 2009.

The program has helped establish and strengthen over 1,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and create 13,000 jobs for women and youth in seven cities across the country, as part of its efforts to promote inclusive growth and poverty reduction.

A number of SMEs have since expanded their small initiatives to form a Private Limited Corporation like the Dream Light Waste Management PLC.

The second four year LED program was recently launched with an initial budget of 8 million US dollars and expands the number of target areas to 27 cities, the release said.   

The WBDA is organized by the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and UNDP.

The WBDA celebrates how companies can use their core business activities to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Ethiopia is predicted to achieve most of the MDGs by 2015, the deadline globally set for the attainment of goals related to reducing poverty and environmental degradation while improving education, health conditions and gender equality by 2015.