The Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has adopted on Wednesday resolutions that approve the membership of Ethiopia and other 12 applicants to join the Bank.
The announcement would bring the total membership of the bank to 70, the website of AIIB indicated.
“The interest in joining AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the bank as an international institution,” the website quoted Jin Liqun, President of AIIB as saying.
“I am very proud that AIIB now has members from almost every continent and we anticipate further applications being considered by our Board of Governors later this year,” he added.
The 13 prospective members will officially join AIIB once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit the first installment of capital with the bank, it was learnt.
The shares allocated to the new prospective members come from the bank’s existing pool of unallocated shares. (ENA)
Gov’t to provide building plots, money for landslide victims’ families
With a view to rehabilitating families of victims of garbage dump landslide, Addis Ababa city administration is to provide one million birr in cash and a building plot at a household level.
A landslide on March 11, 2017 at Koshe garbage dump claimed the lives of dozens of Ethiopians.
Following the accident, governmental and non-governmental organizations, investors and Ethiopians across the nation have been providing supports to back government’s effort to rehabilitate the victims’ families.
As part of the effort, the city administration decided to grant one million birr and a building plot at a household level following a consultation it conducted with a committee drawn from victims’ families.
Moreover, they will get money to rent houses until they build their own residential homes.
Those who had been living at the area by renting house will get houses built under the 10/90 housing schemes in replacement.
Money raised for families of the victims has so far reached 76 million birr, it was noted. (FBC)
World Bank announce USD 57 billion of finance to Sub-Saharan African
The World Bank announced a record 57 billion dollars to finance Sub-Saharan African countries over the next three fiscal years.
The bulk of the financing 45 billion dollars will come from the International Development Association (IDA).
The financing for Sub-Saharan Africa also will include an estimated 8 billion USD in private sector investments from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector arm of the Bank Group, and 4 billion dollars in financing from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, its non-concessional public sector arm.
Expected IDA outcomes include essential health and nutrition services for up to 400 million people, access to improved water sources for up to 45 million, additional generation capacity for renewable energy.
While much of the estimated 45 billion dollars in IDA financing will be dedicated to country-specific programs, significant amounts will be available through special “windows” to finance regional initiatives and transformative projects, support refugees and their host communities, and help countries in the aftermath of crises. (ENA)
Ethiopia launch first agricultural extension strategy
Ethiopia has launched its first Agricultural Extension strategy as of this week.
Speaking at a workshop organized for the launching of the strategy for stakeholders, Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Eyasu Abreha (PhD) said the strategy will create effective and efficient agricultural extension system in the country.
According to the minister, the strategy will use market-oriented, demand driven and pluralistic practices and methods.
In this regard, he said, it can play a crucial role to improve agricultural productivity and livelihood of smallholders by developing innovative, systematic and dynamic agricultural services.
The strategy is meant to be implemented by smallholding farmers, pastoralists and semi-pastoralists across the country, it was indicated.
Furthermore, the agricultural extension strategy will benefit females and youth.
The minister stated that the strategy will serve as an umbrella for the agricultural sub-sectors, including crops, livestock and fishery, natural resources management and other cross cutting issues.
In this respect, research-based agricultural extension service has been provided since 1953 by Haremaya University. (WIC)