Ethiopia to get $3 bln funding from World Bank - prime minister

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday Ethiopia will receive $3 billion from the World Bank to help strengthen reforms in its traditionally state-controlled economy.

The announcement was made two days after the International Monetary Fund said it had reached a preliminary agreement for a three-year, $2.9 billion financing package to support Ethiopia’s economic reforms.

Abiy did not give more details on the World Bank funding. He said on his Twitter account that unnamed development partners have pledged more than $3 billion in addition to the World Bank and IMF funding.

The money will go toward macroeconomic, structural and sectoral reforms, he said.

“This reaffirms both Governments’ and donors’ partnership to transition Ethiopia to a prosperous and peaceful nation,” Abiy wrote.

Abiy promised to open the economy to private investment when he took office in 2018, aiming to modernise banking and telecoms and help provide jobs for more of the nation’s 105 million people.