Ethiopia signed three credit financing agreements with the World Bank providing 400 million US dollars in loans. The loan is 
designated to finance the execution of the Electricity Network Reinforcement Project, Women Entrepreneurship Development Project, and Urban Water Supply and Sanitation.
The World Bank has been supporting a range of development programs as the country’s major development partner said Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Economic Development at the signing.
The agreements will support projects that provide comprehensive technical assistance and capacity building programs in Ethiopia according to Guang Z. Chen, Country Director of the World Bank in Ethiopia.
The World Bank is committed to continue working closely with Ethiopia to support the development goals of the country and to eliminate poverty he added.It is expected that 150 million US dollars of the total financing will held fund the ongoing Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project suffering from a deficit because of the increased costs in construction materials required said Sufian.
The second agreement totaling 200 million US dollars is designed to fund the electric network reinforcement and expansion projects underway in the country. The projects aim to strengthen the transmission network in place, to increase access to the electric grid by intensifying connection and to enhance the capacity and reliability of the network said Sufian.
The final agreement will be geared towards developing the entrepreneurship projects targeting women and increasing the earnings of micro finance enterprises solely or partially owned by women entrepreneurs in selected urban areas he explained.
Source: Ethiopian Herald
