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AfDB Approves $5.5m Grant for East Africa Energy Projects

Apr 16 , 2022

The board of directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a 5.5 million dollar technical assistance grant to kick-start the roll-out of the flagship Desert to Power initiative to be implemented in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Sudan. Dubbed the East Africa Regional Energy Project, it will be financed through the regional public good window of the ADF, the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). The project will develop technical studies for regional solar parks and associated battery storage near regional energy inter-connectors, high-voltage cables that connect the electricity systems of neighboring countries. The initiative will also work to strengthen the technical capacity of the implementing institutions, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a trade bloc that includes countries from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the Great Lakes region.

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HEFTY GREEN

Street vendors around the Shola area take a rest in the shades of the capital's newly planted trees. Upon reporting on its 10-month performance before Parliament, the Agriculture Minister, Girma Amentie indicated that up to 43pc of the arable land in the country has been rendered acidic. This requires large amounts of limestone to be imported from abroad; the tight forex crunch has not allowed the Ministry of Finance to fund the endeavour easily. Following the rallying call of the Prime Minister...

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Radar

DAMP DENIMS

Residents of communal houses around the Weji area hang their clothes on the fences outside. Textile manufacturing accounts for 87pc of Ethiopia's products from industrial parks. Expulsion from the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to the war in the North resulted in Ethiopia being expelled from the preferential trade act. Most companies choosing to rent sheds within the industrial parks do so out of a desire to access the duty-free privileges provided for African countries. Ethiopi...

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PRICY PLEASURES

Vendors put traditional beauty products from the Somali Regional State for sale around Mexico area. In November of last year, the Ministry of Finance banned imported goods under 38 categories, including cosmetics, packed foods, and furniture, from accessing letters of credit. The move resulted in the tripling of costs for cosmetic items like lipstick and nail polish. As Ethiopia ran a 14 billion dollar merchandise trade deficit last year due to import bills hiking by 26pc , a tight clampdown on...

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