World Bank provides 7 billion birr support to Ethiopia The World Bank had provided 7 billion birr (US$380 million) financial credit for Ethiopia to finance another round of urban development projects. The agreement was signed between Sofian Ahmed, Minister for Economy Finance and Development, and World Bank Country Director to Ethiopia, Guang Zi Chenm on Tuesday (May 6). Minister Sofian Ahmed said the finance will be mainly used for the construction of infrastructure in urban areas and improvement of public services. The first phase of the urban development financial support was utilized by 19 cities including Addis Ababa, with around 2.6 million people benefitting. The fund was spent on construction of over 700 kilometers of cobblestone roads and purchase of firefighting equipment as well as provision of dry and waste collecting vehicles, the provision of improved water sources for 29,000 people and other improvements. These projects also created 300,000 jobs. Mr. Guang Ze Chen underlined the importance of urban infrastructure and job creation to cope up with increasing migration to cities in Ethiopia. He said in 2000 11% of the poor lived in cities; this had risen to 14% in 2010/11. This second round of urban development finance will consolidate and expand the achievements of the first phase with funds disbursed on the basis of performance by participating local government. It will benefit 26 new ULGs and provide for support to a total of 44 cities in capacity building, infrastructure development and improvement of service delivery
Posted on: Thu, 08 May 2014 06:50:12 +0000
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