Public Management

Ethiopia: African Development Fund approves $165 million grant for national COVID-19 emergency response

Ethiopia: African Development Fund approves $165 million grant for national COVID-19 emergency response
Friday, 03 July 2020 14:18

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) on 3 July approved a grant of $165.08 million to support Ethiopia’s response to the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including helping to ease fiscal pressures on the economy.

The grant, awarded from the country’s ADF-15 Performance-Based Allocation, will help bolster Ethiopia’s COVID-19 National Emergency Response Plan (NERP). The NERP outlines a reliable, multi-sector approach to tackling the pandemic. It aims to expand social protection coverage for the most vulnerable, enhance capacity to contain the virus outbreak, and address macro-fiscal imbalances as well as cushioning the effects of the crisis on the private sector.

This Bank’s support will especially help local businesses and vulnerable households, particularly the urban poor,” said Abdul Kamara, the Bank’s Country manager for Ethiopia. “The program will increase the number of COVID-19 testing laboratories, train 45,000 healthcare workers in COVID-19 response, and aid in rolling out a risk-communication and community engagement strategy to raise awareness on transmission and prevention.”

The country’s health system remains weak, with only three hospital beds per 10,000 persons. The package will assist in refurbishing 300 isolation centers, 34 treatment centers and 100 quarantine centers.

The program will also support the government to offset unplanned expenditures deployed to stabilize the economy under the NERP, and funds will be apportioned to protect small businesses in the formal and informal economy in order to preserve approximately 26,000 jobs.

Ethiopia, along with the rest of Africa, is feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is threatening to reverse recent economic gains. Apart from existing food security issues heightened by COVID-19, the agricultural sector is facing complex and multiple shocks, including the desert locust invasion and climate risks, which pose a threat to productive farmers.

On 8 April, Ethiopia’s parliament declared a state of emergency and national elections, which were scheduled for 29 August, were postponed.

Ethiopia’s robust economic growth, averaging around 10% annually from 2004/05, is expected to slump as a result of the adverse impact of COVID-1. The country’s 2020 GDP growth has been revised downwards from initial projections of 7.2% to between 2.6% and 3.1%.

The pandemic is also expected to negatively impact the private sector, especially in the construction, exports, and tourism and travel sub-sectors. Ethiopia’s tourism sector accounts for about 9.4% of GDP and employs some 2.2 million people. COVID-19 is expected to further reduce inflows, constraining the importation of raw materials.

The proposed program is aligned with the Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022, in particular the High 5 priority “Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa”, and Pillar II of the Ethiopia Country Strategy Paper 2016-2020, “Promoting Economic Governance”. The NERP is being supported in partnership with several development institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the Korean Exim Bank.

As of 1 July 2020, Ethiopia had recorded close to 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 2,430 recoveries and 103 deaths.

23219 agency

Additional Info

  • communiques: Non
  • couleur: N/A
On the same topic
• IMF extends Niger’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program by one year through December 2026.• IMF approves a $41 million disbursement tied to...
EBRD grants $100 million loan to Banque Misr to expand credit access for SMEs and women-led businesses. Loan supports Egypt’s green finance...
UTB’s restructuring delayed to end-2026 due to incomplete audits; reorganization plan expected by March. Despite a CFA 15.2B injection, the bank...
DRC launches campaign to diversify investors in government securities 98% of bonds now held by banks; aim is to reduce risk and broaden...
Most Read
01

• Inflation within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) fell to a two-year low of 0....

UEMOA: Inflation Drops to 0.6% in May, Driven by Lower Food Prices
02

• Interbank volumes rose 18.7% in May, while rates declined across the market• The BCEAO cut its mai...

WAEMU Sees Easing Conditions on Regional Interbank Market
03

• The U.S. imposed a 20% tariff on cashew exports from Vietnam and a 40% tax on suspected transshipm...

U.S. Tariffs on Vietnam Cashews May Disrupt Trade, Hit African Growers (Interview)
04

Cauri Money launches Gajo Money, an e-wallet for the Cameroonian diaspora, targeting €120 mil...

Cauri Money Targets Cameroonian Diaspora with Digital Wallet Launch
05

• Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways establish strategic agreement, introducing a third daily flight be...

Qatar Airways Expands its Network in Africa, Building Presence in Kigali, Johannesburg, and Nairobi
Enter your email to receive our newsletter

Ecofin Agency provides daily coverage of nine key African economic sectors: public management, finance, telecoms, agribusiness, mining, energy, transport, communication, and education.
It also designs and manages specialized media, both online and print, for African institutions and publishers.

SALES & ADVERTISING

regie@agenceecofin.com 
Tél: +41 22 301 96 11 
Mob: +41 78 699 13 72
Média kit : Download

EDITORIAL
redaction@agenceecofin.com

More information
Team
Publisher

ECOFIN AGENCY

Mediamania Sarl
Rue du Léman, 6
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

 

Ecofin Agency is a sector-focused economic news agency, founded in December 2010. Its web platform was launched in June 2011. ©Mediamania.

 
 

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.