Signing of two agreements between Ethiopia and France in support of reconstruction in northern Ethiopia on the sidelines of French Minister Catherine Colonna’s visit to Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA (French Embassy) – During her visit to Ethiopia with her German counterpart Ms Annalena Baerbock, Mme Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, signed two French Development Agency (AFD) agreements in the presence of Ethiopia’s State Minister for Economic Cooperation, Ms. Semereta Sewasew, CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), Dr. Ashebir Balcha, and the European Union’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Roland Kobia.
These agreements concern two projects to rehabilitate electricity infrastructure in northern Ethiopia and increase food security in the country. They meet needs expressed by the local authorities and will help improve the well-being and daily lives of 12 million Ethiopians in the three regions affected by the conflict: Amhara, Tigray and Afar.
- The first project concerns the provision of electricity equipment such as transformers and high-voltage power lines. Ten million people will benefit from stable access to electricity in two northern regions.
- The second project, funded jointly with the European Union, aims to increase the country’s food security. In the short term, the goal is to help the agricultural recovery through the distribution of seeds, livestock and equipment in Amhara, Tigray and Afar. It will benefit 400,000 farmers, including women farmers who are victims of the conflict. In the longer term, the second phase of the project will improve the structure of the fertilizer industry in Ethiopia in order to increase national agricultural production
The Ethiopian News Agency reported that the grant agreement signed between Ethiopia and France is worth of 32 million Euros.
The Paris-headquartered AFD has been operating in the Ethiopia since 1993, opening its own office in Addis Ababa in 1997. Since 1997, the Agency has committed the financing of more then 50 projects worth of more than 525 million Euros and benefiting more than 2.5 million Ethiopians from the projects. In recent years, AFD has been funding two flagship projects in Ethiopia. The first project to improve access to water for 1 million people in 45 towns, and the second one to provide 2.6 million people with improved, gender-sensitive sanitation facilities.
Sources: French Embassy in Addis Ababa, ENA, and AFD