Two grant agreements have been signed between H.E. Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Valérie Tehio, the French Development Agency (AFD) Country Director as well as H.E. Frederic Bontems, Ambassador of France to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and to the African Union.
To a total tune of 20 million euros, they will support two key sectors for Ethiopia’s economy: Culture and Agriculture.
With the first agreement, AFD commits to provide a 12 million euros grant to support the first phase of the Restoration and public opening of Addis Ababa National Palace Project.
The National Palace was built during Emperor Haile Selassie reign and has become one of the most emblematic national buildings of Ethiopia, though it was never opened to the public and was used as an official residency that is currently used as the official quarters of the President.
The first phase of the project would cost 20 million euros in total and will consist in opening the Palace to the public along with the park in front of the Palace. A complementary grant of 8 million euros is expected to be provided by AFD in 2021 after the launch of the works.
This Project, which will be implemented in line with international best practices, will contribute to the capacity building of Ethiopian administration in terms of preservation and management of urban heritage, the development of a new touristic attraction in the city of Addis Ababa and the reclaim of the site and associated History for the local population.
The second agreement refers to an AFD’s 8 million euros grant in support to the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA). This project is part of the Agriculture Commercialization Cluster (ACC) program, supported by other development partners, such as the Danish and Dutch Embassies and the European Union, and aims to develop agribusiness capacities and access to finance in the agriculture sector.
Agriculture is the backbone of Ethiopia’s economy and society. The objective of this financing is to develop the investment capacity of smallholder farmers and the small and medium-sized agribusinesses by providing them with inputs and capacity development services and by upgrading and adding value to the commercial chain of their production (processing, marketing and exporting companies).
Within 5 years, it is expected to develop productivity and revenue generation of 1.8 million small farmers and 1,340 agri-SMEs, including them in the value chains from production to marketing, and developing their access to credit and dedicated financial services in order to increase their investment capacity.
Additionally to strengthening Ethiopian Agribusiness, diversifying their economic model, developing their productivity and creating the conditions for a sustainable economic development and jobs creation in rural areas, the objective is also to develop dedicated strategies to support agribusiness among financial institutions, which is the missing link today to sustain the agricultural sector’s development.
Original source: AFD
Published on 16 July 2020
