World Bank commits 829 mln. USD for dev’t projects
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Ethiopia and the World Bank Group yesterday signed financial agreement amounting to 829 million USD to finance five projects.
Finance and Economic Cooperation Minister Abdulaziz Ahmed said during the signing ceremony that the WB is the biggest and solid development partner working closely with the government in various development projects.
He said that the Bank ,together with other development partners, has remained engaged in supporting Ethiopia’s effort to expand access and reach of social and economic services throughout the nation.
“The five financing agreements are further testimony to the Bank’s commitment to continue engaged in the creation of centres of excellence, which will support the infrastructural development and service provision agenda of the country, ” the Minister said.
World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan Carolyn Turk on her part said that this year has been a very big year for our partnership with Ethiopia. “The agreement brings the number of new Bank financed projects for the fiscal year 2016 to ten and subject to the Board approval of the 100 million USD additional financing within the next couple of weeks which will bring the total new commitments to 1.8 billion USD and the value of the active portfolio to over 8 billion USD.”
She further said that the five financing agreements aim to improve transport and the effectiveness of road safety compliance systems in the country, the development of response to displacement impacts project as well as small and medium enterprises, electricity network reinforcement and financing of higher education in the form of centers of excellence in Ethiopia and other universities and centers in Africa.
As per the agreement, institutions of higher education in Eastern and Southern Africa are set to benefit from the new WB financing that will improve their training and research capabilities and strengthen the delivery of quality education as they seek innovative solutions to the continent’s development.
BY HAFTU GEBREZGABIHER