Healthcare, Floriculture Businesses Awarded 4.9m Grant

Apr 21 , 2024


[ssba-buttons]

A couple of businesses have been awarded a 4.9 million euro grant aimed at creating jobs in the healthcare and floriculture industries. Kadisco General Hospital and Tinaw Business Share Company were chosen from a pool of 318 applicants by the Facility Investing for Employment (IFE). Operating on behalf of the KfW Development Bank and the Economic Cooperation & Development of Germany, IFE aims to generate 100,000 jobs in Ethiopia and seven other African countries. The grant arrives at a pivotal moment, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) highlighting a surge in the number of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) across Sub-Saharan Africa, totalling 62 million people. Established in 2004 and staffed by 192 healthcare professionals, Kadisco plans to use the 2.09 million euro grant from IFE to finance equipment for its expansion, which is anticipated to create job opportunities for nearly 249 individuals. Meanwhile, Tinaw, a cut flowers exporter, aims to triple its production within three years by expanding its operations. With a total investment cost of 10.37 million euros, the company will receive close to 2.3 million euros from IFE, to create job opportunities for 1,202 workers.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...