Ethiopia signed a 590 million dollar grant and loan agreement with France to boost water and energy projects, as well as for the construction of electricity transmission lines with Kenya, the Embassy of France in Ethiopia said.

The agreement will enable the French Development Agency to develop water and sanitation schemes and support the management of geothermal and windmill projects.

It is to be recalled that Ethiopia concluded a 337 million euro loan agreement with the government of France on Wednesday. The government of France offered 70 million of the 337 million as a grant and the balance as a loan.

The money is intended to be used to finance the country's five-year Growth and Transformation Plan, especially development programs in the energy, urban infrastructure, and agriculture as well as water and sanitation sectors.

Ethiopia had signed a 220 million euro deal with French wind turbine manufacturer Vergnet in 2008 for the construction of a 120 MW wind farm in the Tigray Regional State.

The country has also started work on building a 5,250 MW dam on the Nile River at the cost of 4.78 billion dollars.

Ethiopia aims to produce 15,000 MW of power within 10 years as part of a plan to spend 12 billion dollars over 25 years to overcome chronic power shortages and export to other energy-starved African countries.

Source: Reuters