A new World Bank program is set to strengthen and expand the electricity network, improve sector financial viability, and enable renewable energy generation through private sector participation in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has the third largest energy access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa with about half the population still without access to reliable electricity. Over the past decade, the Government of Ethiopia has made encouraging progress on its electrification program and expanded the grid network coverage to nearly 60% of towns and villages. Yet the electricity deficit in Ethiopia continues to exacerbate the poverty situation, preventing far too many people from fulfilling their basic socio-economic needs and limiting access to opportunity. For Ethiopia to continue to ramp up electricity access through grid connections, it is essential that the electric utilities and backbone infrastructure are fit for purpose.
“Transforming the electricity sector in Ethiopia requires a medium-term approach to address interlinked structural and operational challenges and send a strong signal to the private sector. Through this program, the World Bank will partner with Ethiopia over the next 10 years with a financing envelope of up to $1.4 billion, to help the government crowd in other development partners and the private sector,” said Wendy Hughes, World Bank Regional Director for Infrastructure for Eastern and Southern Africa.
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