Addis Ababa, May 30, 2022 (Walta) – Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the Benelux countries and EU Institutions, Hirut Zemene made a courtesy visit to Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, the Managing Director of Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) on the 24th of May, 2022.
The Managing Director briefed Ambassador Hirut on the functions, experiences, and focus areas of the organization. Ambassador Belal stated that CFC provides finances for development projects in the commodity sector with a focus on SMEs and women.
He further indicated that the majority of CFC’s investment is in the African continent, and as part of that, many projects related to commodity and women are also implemented in Ethiopia as partially financed by the CFC.
Ambassador Hirut, in turn, appreciated the focus of the organization on Ethiopia and expressed interest to explore further opportunities in coffee and other commodity sectors for future engagements. In doing so, the future collaboration between CFC and the Embassy, as well as prospects of financing medium and small-sized businesses in Ethiopia were the major issues discussed.
CFC is an UN-affiliated multilateral organization, based in Amsterdam, that finances development projects in the commodity sector through the means of a call for proposal. It has 101 member countries and 9 institutional members.