Ethiopia has witnessed rapid economic growth, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 10.9 between 2004 and 2014, which is lifting the country from being the second poorest in the world in 2000 to becoming a middle income country by 2025, if it continues its current growth trajectory, World Bank revealed.
World Bank said expectation of both oil price increase in the international market and decline in local construction sector performance guided by public investment may decelerate Ethiopia’s economic growth in the coming three years.
The World Bank today signed a new grant agreement with the Government of Ethiopia to improve the enabling environment for sustainable forest management, investments, and emissions reductions in the state of Oromia. The $18 million grant, provided by the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund (Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes), will support the government’s new Oromia Forested Landscape Program (OFLP). This program would be the first operation financed by the Bank to target greenhouse gas emissions from a landscape perspective across an entire jurisdiction.
The World Bank has expressed an interest in financing the Halele-Werabesa Hydropower plant in Ethiopia. The bank is interested in fully financing the 700 million birr project according to, Guang Zen Chen World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. 
The Ethiopian Electric and Power Corporation will submit a proposal to secure the funding to the bank’s governing body after some discussions said Chen.
Experts from the World Bank carried out a field visit to the prospective site for the project and reviewed the feasibility study before submitting the application for financing.
The World Bank and African Development Bank will provide 80 percent of the funds needed for a USD 1.26 billion transmission line that will take power to Kenya from Ethiopia.
The World Bank will lend the countries USD 684 million for the 1,070 KM transmission line running from Wolayta-Sodo in Ethiopia to Suswa, 100 KM Kenyan, African Development Bank Regional Director Gabriel Negatu told reporters. The African Development Bank is lending USD 338 million, he said.
