The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Friday approved a grant of $42.86 million to Ethiopia to finance the implementation of the Agri-Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) development programme in the East African nation.
The programme aims to enhance the growth and productivity of over 8,000 micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) run by young people and women with focus on improving access to finance and entrepreneurship enabling the environment.
AfDB’s financing is bolstered by a $10 million contribution from the Development Bank of Ethiopia and $6.24 million from the government.
According to the AfDB, these will significantly boost the initiative seeking to eliminate the barriers to access to finance for youth and women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia.
“The project interventions are timely and will support major sector reforms that will help strengthen the strategic and institutional framework for financial inclusion, and youth- and women-led entrepreneurship development in Ethiopia,” said Dr Abdul Kamara, AfDB Deputy Director General for East Africa.
The project comprises two pillars. One seeks to expand access to finance and non-financial services for youth and women led agri-MSMEs, with institutional capacity strengthening for the main institutional providers of non-financial services.
The second pillar centres on designing, establishing and deploying the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) framework.
MG/GIK/APA