African Dev't Bank Extends 15 Mln USD Grant for Ethiopia's Agro-Industrial Parks Project

Addis Ababa  December 13/2018 Ethiopia and African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed 15-million-USD grant agreement to finance the integrated Agro-Industrial Parks Support Project (IAIPSP). Signing the agreement today, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said the project fits very well with the national vision as it focuses on supporting the development of the four Agro-Industrial Parks located in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regional states. The sites are Bure (Amhara), Bulbula (Oromia), Yirgalem (SNNP), and Baeker (Tigray), it was learned. The project will strengthen the agro-industrial parks link with producers and Small and Medium Enterprises with strategic industrial clusters, the minister added. African Development Bank Country Manager, Abdul Kamara said the bank appreciates and fully supports the government’s profound economic reforms. “In this context, I hope that this grant will expand the government’s fiscal space to accelerate improvements in agro-industrial development, which is a key enabler for the country’s industrialization agenda,” he stated. AfDB is also encouraged to see that the integrated agro-industrial parks remain a major priority for the government. This long-term perspective offers the bank opportunities to continue its support for this program. Abdul finally pointed out that “the agreement for Agro-Industrial Parks Support Project that we are signing today brings AfDB’s total ongoing commitment to 1.89 USD billion, covering the key sectors of energy, transport, water supply, sanitation, agriculture, governance, private sector and basic services.”