The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors approved 80 million USD grant to support the government of Ethiopia to boost agricultural productivity and enhance market access for smallholder farmers.

The additional financing will help to address the existing challenges and is key to ensuring that Ethiopia’s agricultural sector reaches its full potential, according to a press release issued by the Bank today.

The World Bank 2019 Poverty Assessment agricultural growth was a key driver of poverty reduction over the past decade for Ethiopia, the Bank said, and noted “additional financing for the Second Agricultural Growth Project (AGPII) will further increase the economic potential of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector”.

Senior Agricultural Specialist at the World Bank, Vikas Choudhary said “AGPII has made notable contributions to poverty reduction in Ethiopia. The project has been delivering solid results on the ground, especially in increasing productivity and enhancing commercialization.”

See more at: https://africabusinessnetworking.com/wb-approves-80-mln-grant-to-support-ethiopia-to-boost-agro-productivity/

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has inaugurated the factory of commercial production of Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostic testing kits both for domestic and export market.

The factory was built in Bolle Lemi industrial park in collaboration with the government of Ethiopia and the Chinese Company, BGI Health Ethiopia with a priority to African countries and Ethiopia’s domestic demand.

The factory could produce 10 million test kits annually while the country`s overall COVID-19 laboratory tests reached over 1 million people so far.

Commencing the factory today, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said alongside production of testing kits, it will also provide commercial laboratory services for a total of 3 million transit passengers at Bole International Airport and in Addis Ababa city.

“This will boost the testing capacity of Ethiopia and other African countries,” Abiy stated.

Citing the ever-rising capacity of testing COVID-19 in Ethiopia, the Premier said in a short period of intensive works, the testing capacity of Ethiopia becomes 3rd in Africa.

See more at: https://www.ena.et/en/?p=16877

Some Serbian investors have shown keen desire to invest in Ethiopia in the field of agriculture in particular, the country’s ambassador said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ambassador Aleksandar Ristic said Serbian companies are eager to engage in Ethiopia in different spheres, including in agriculture.

“Serbia has a number of agricultural companies that are very developed and with very skilled people in the sector, particularly in the field of production of seeds. We are aware of the need for seeds in Ethiopia and established contacts between our countries and companies in this field,” he elaborated.

Furthermore, there are other companies interested in joint ventures and producing seeds here in Ethiopia.

According to him, the reforms in the past two and half years in Ethiopia are impressive.

Apart from the ongoing economic and political reforms, major steps have been taken to make Ethiopia conducive for foreign investment, Ambassador Ristic said, adding that “we are therefore encouraging Serbian companies to come here and invest in different sectors.”

See more at: https://www.ena.et/en/?p=16944

Addis Ababa, September 14/2020(ENA) Ethiopia today unveiled new currency notes reinstating the existing Birr note, according to Office of the Prime Minister.

The office announced that the new currency notes include Birr 10, 50 and 100 denominations, with an additional introduction of a new 200 Birr note.

The move will help to curb illicit money transfer, counterfeit and contrabands, the office indicated.

Enhanced security features on the new notes aimed at making them more difficult to counterfeit, it was learned.

Recently, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) issued a new directive that bans persons and companies from keeping over 1.5 million Birr in cash out of banks.

The objectives of the directive are to prevent illegal money circulation and strengthen legal transaction as well as protect notes from damage, among others.

According to the bank anyone who deposits more than the stated amount of money anywhere out of banks will be accountable and punished as per the regulation.

Source : https://www.ena.et/en/?p=16884