Finance Minister meets with WB high-level delegation to discuss development cooperation in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, January 29, 2025 (FMC) — Mr. Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance, met at his office today with World Bank delegation led by Ms. Anna Bjerde, the Bank’s Managing Director for Operations and Mrs. Victoria Kwakwa, Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, to discuss development cooperation in Ethiopia

On the occasion, Mr. Ahmed Shide congratulated the World Bank on the successful conclusion of the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit which was held in Tanzania earlier this week.

The Bank, in collaboration with other development partners, is working on Mission300 to reduce by 50% the population of Africa without access to electricity by 2030, which aims to bring light to 300 million people on the continent, according to the Ethiopian finance ministry.

During the course of the discussions, Mr. Ahmed emphasized that energy is central to Ethiopia’s economy, highlighting the country’s vast potential for renewable energy generation and a key sector for collaboration with World Bank.

The Minister expressed gratitude to the Bank for the comprehensive financial and technical support to Ethiopia. The current portfolio reflects over USD 17 billion in investments across various sectors.

He also gave an update on the bold macroeconomic reforms that his country has embarked on. The Minister discussed ongoing reforms in the tax and financial sectors to create a favorable investment climate and reaffirmed the Ethiopian government’s commitment to sustain its efforts in this area.

Mr. Ahmed also congratulated the Bank and its donors on the robust IDA21 Replenishment.

For her part, Ms. Bjerde commended Ethiopia for its successful implementation of macroeconomic and financial sector reforms and related gains to date, while reaffirming the World Bank’s commitment to continue supporting these initiatives.

The Managing Director also highlighted the need for deepening the reforms to respond to the needs of the private sector.

Both parties expressed agreement on the importance of strong and continued collaboration and partnership in moving forward.