The International Finance Corporation, private sector arm of the World Bank, urged Ethiopian businesses to ask for more funding. Very few Ethiopian projects are receiving help from IFC according to Jean Philippe Prosper, IFC director for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The IFC is interested in investing in agro-industry, primarily coffee, as well as in the areas of banking, mining and leasing he said in a meeting with some of the larger Ethiopian businesses this week. The IFC plans to address concerns, in regards to the long term viability of funding from the IFC, raised by the business community during the discussions said Mr. Prosper.