As Ethiopia is one of the best performing portfolios of most of the World Bank’s big flagship projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank wants to continue supporting it, Country Director for Ethiopia Carolyn Turk said.
Finance and Economic Cooperation Minister Abraham Tekeste and World Bank Country Director Turk have signed 600 million USD loan and grant agreement today.
The finance will help strengthen the capacity and performance of local urban governments, expand sustainable urban infrastructure and services as well as promote local economic development in cities and towns.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, the Country Director said that Ethiopia is one of the fastest urbanizing countries with 3.8 percent per annum, and we want to help the government meet the challenges of the rapidly increasing urban population.
Urbanization can be a powerful force for economic growth and poverty reduction if utilized right, she said, stressing that “the time to get it organized right is now for Ethiopia and that is why we are scaling up our support.”
“I am pleased to say that we have one of the best performing portfolios in Sub-Saharan Africa in Ethiopia; and in general I would say the projects are performing very well” Turk said.
Productive Safety Net Program, Sustainable Land Management, and Agricultural Growth and Productivity are few of the many projects that are supported by the World Bank in big scale, she mentioned, and hastened to add that “in some of the projects, we have even overachieved.”
Finance and Economic Cooperation Minister Abraham Tekeste said on his part the Urban Institutional and Infrastructure Development Program is built on its important predecessor the Urban Local Government Development Program.
“The objectives of this program are well aligned with our transformation and development agenda”, the Minister said.
The Urban Institutional and Infrastructure Development Program aims to improve the institutional capacity and delivery of services in cities and towns, Abraham stated. “We will make sure that the program is implemented as per the design.”
He underscored that “this is a lot of money, a lot of investment; and with that also comes a lot of responsibility.”
By increasing access to services such as drainage, roads, sanitation and solid waste management, and improving health and productivity, the program will improve the quality of life of 6.6 million residents of the 117 cities where it will be implemented.(ENA)