WB Committed to Supporting Ethiopia's Reform, Praises Gov't Strong Commitment

Addis Ababa, May 14, 2025 (ENA)— The World Bank (WB) has reiterated its commitment to further collaborate with the government of Ethiopia on its reform journey, commending the strong commitment of the government to create a better business environment. 

 In an exclusive interview with ENA, Sherin Varkey, World Bank Program Leader for Human Development for Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan and Eritrea said the Bank is really looking forward to further collaborating with the Government of Ethiopia on this reform journey for future growth and productivity.

“We do see a very strong commitment from the Government of Ethiopia to create a better business environment. There are lots of reforms being taken in addition to macroeconomic reform.”

There are also certain high growth sectors in the country that will lead to not only greater growth but better-quality growth which is highly important for the economic transformation of Ethiopia, he noted.

Recall that Ethiopia, under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, had embarked on comprehensive reforms within the framework of the Homegrown Economic Reform.

Following the recent macroeconomic reform, the government's revenue is rising, exports are surging, foreign exchange reserves have more than doubled and inflation is declining.

Ethiopia’s investment is also increasing across critical sectors and the liberalization of key industries such as telecommunications, logistics, energy; and more recently banking, retail, wholesale that have deepened investors’ confidence.  

Praising the reform initiatives being undertaken by the government, Varkey stressed further the need to sustain with more reforms to enable the private sector to invest and to do business in Ethiopia.

For the WB program leader, there are lots of potential sectors in the country which are very important for private sector jobs that ensure the economic transformation in Ethiopia.

According to him, the Bank, along with other development partners, is working to enable the private sector to really invest in the future and be part of the economic transformation in Ethiopia.

Very importantly, he underscored the need to invest in human capital; that is investing in the people in education, health and skills which are foundational for future growth and economic transformation.