Juncker made the announcement when he met Thursday with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia to discuss EU support to Ethiopia’s reform process.
“The partnership between Ethiopia and the EU is particularly strong, and the meeting with Prime Minister Abiy allowed us to exchange on how to further deepen it. The EU supports the ambitious reform agenda in Ethiopia and is committed to step up its support to the country”, he said.
Meanwhile, EU’s Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica and Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, have signed three new programmes to promote sustainable economic growth and job creation in the country for a total amount of €130 million.
These financing agreements between the EU and Ethiopia support job creation (€50 million), sustainable energy (€35 million) and the establishment of agro-industrial parks in Ethiopia (€45 million), according to a press release issued by the European Commission.
Commissioner Mimica said: “Today’s cooperation package worth €130 million is proof of our support to Ethiopia’s economic development and job creation, which will help build new opportunities for its people. With these additional funds, we are also supporting the better access to sustainable energy and the development of the agro-industrial sector in the country”.
The three new programmes signed Thursday are part of the implementation of the ‘Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs’, which aims to deepen the economic and trade relations between the two continents, in order to create sustainable jobs and growth.
During Prime Minister Ahmed’s first visit to the EU institutions, he also met EU’s foreign minister Federica Mogherini, Mimica, as well as EU Council President Donald Tusk.