The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide €40m, the French Agency for Development (AFD) will provide €20m while €15m will be provided by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which is represented by the Italian Development Cooperation Local Technical Unit (IDC) in the country.
All the parties have also agreed to provide €6.4m in grant, in addition to the loan.
The programme will include technical support during its implementation and long-term loans.
It will deliver new water and sanitation infrastructure as well as refurbish existing services in small and medium towns across Ethiopia.
The scheme, which is estimated to benefit over 120,000 Ethiopian homes, will be supported by the Water Resources Development Fund. Regional water authorities will also get technical assistance.
EIB vice-president Pim van Ballekom said: "The programme that we’ve agreed to jointly finance today is expected to lead to improvements in health conditions and thus the quality of life of many Ethiopians."
Separately, the EIB has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dutch government to strengthen support for water investment.
The MoU will create a framework for future cooperation between the EIB and the Dutch authorities to use knowledge, capacity and further financing in support of the water and sanitation sector.
The collaboration will target developing nations, with a particular focus on Africa. It may expand to other EU countries or neighbouring states.
Image: EIB Vice President Pim Van Ballekom, Deputy Director General of AFD Jacques Moineville, Ethiopian State Minister of Finance Ato Ahmed Shide and Minister of State for Development and Francophony Annick Girardin. Photo: courtesy of European Investment Bank.
