World Bank Nods to $180m Refugee Welfare Project Extension


World Bank Nods to $180m Refugee Welfare Project Extension

The World Bank has approved 180 million dollars in financing for the expansion of a welfare programme designed to bring refugees back to the workforce while in host countries. The "development response to displacement impacts" programme was launched five years ago with 100 million dollars in loans secured from the Bretton Woods institution. The federal government requested additional financing a year before the project's first phase was scheduled to come to a close last December. Officials said the extension was necessary to complete unfinished works in two weredas of the Somali Regional State, which had been interrupted due to security concerns. The additional funding may enable project managers to continue work in Tigray Regional State, which hosted five large refugee camps and where the programme was frozen following the outbreak of armed conflict in November 2020. They are part of the 27 camps hosting 845,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Ethiopia. Officials hope to see the second phase, which will run for five years beginning this month, reaching 2.5 million people, and around a quarter will come from refugees.


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Parliament Nods for Cabinet Appointments

Federal legislators have approved five cabinet-level positions last week with a member of Parliament (MP) voted against and two abstentions were counted. Gedion Timotheos (PhD) leads the charge as the new minister of Foreign Affairs, filling in Taye Asqeselassie's shoes, where he stayed briefly before becoming the country's president. With law degrees from Addis Abeba and Central European universities, Gedion was previously Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Joining him in the redev...


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Abyssinia Group Eyes Expansion with IFC Funding

Abyssinia Group of Industries (AGI), a leading East African steel producer, is poised for significant expansion owing to a proposed investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is considering a financing package of up to 50 million dollars, including parallel loans in local currency. Headquartered in Kenya, AGI operates two steel plants in Ethiopia, six in Kenya, and has mining activities in Uganda. AGI currently produces 660,000 metric tons of steel annually and employs...


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Fitch Acknowledges Easing Financial Pressures, Enhanced Macroeconomic Stability

Fitch Ratings has upgraded Ethiopia's Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (LTLC IDR) to 'CCC+' from 'CCC-', citing easing financing pressures, improved macroeconomic stability, and increased confidence that local-currency obligations will not be part of the ongoing debt restructuring. This positive development comes as the government implements key reforms and secures renewed concessional external financing. The ratings agency has taken note of the introduction of a market-based ex...


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