Officials at the Ministry of Tourism are under preparation for the reconstruction of tourist destinations in the war-ravaged Tigray Region. They are waiting for the finalization of the peace deal between the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government.
The ministry will conduct damage assessments to restore tourist attractions sites in the Tigray region, said an official at the Ministry. Reports indicate tourist sites in Tigray sustained damages. This includes the Al-Nejeshi mosque, one of Africa’s oldest mosques, which is touted as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“We will make an inventory of heritage and attraction sites as we expect tourist inflow would increase when the war is over,” Sileshi Girma, the state minister of tourism, said.
Sileshi says the ministry plans to support investors that engage in the tourism sector in region, pledging to facilitate loan for the businesses to enable them resume operations.
Currently, the ministry has set up a study group to identify conflict-affected tourist destinations in the Afar and Amhara regions. Two months ago, the National Bank of Ethiopia was given the direction to provide credit facilities for the rehabilitation of hotels in the Amhara and Afar regions.
According to Sileshi, the Ministry will make a new budget request for the reconstruction efforts in Tigray, besides a plan to use its 400 million birr allocated for the development of tourist destination sites across the country.
Last week, Redwan Hussien, Security advisor to the Prime Minister and the lead negotiator with TPLF, said that at least USD 20 billion for reconstruction efforts in North Ethiopia.
“Our partners would be encouraged now to move in because I had the estimate yesterday from our Finance Minister that it would require like nearly 20 billion USD to bring back the entire loss,” Redwan said, while briefing diplomats residing in Addis Ababa on November 05, 2022.
