Addis Ababa - Ethiopia and the World Bank have signed an agreement for a 205 million US Dollar loan which will be used to finance the country's water supply, sanitation and hygiene project (WASH 2 Project).
The agreement was signed on Thursday by Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ato Ahmed Shide, and a representative of the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, Perminder Brar.
According to Shide, the project will increase the access of people in selected districts, towns and communities to improved water supplies and sanitation services across the country.
The project will also have a great importance in improving the health and productivity of the beneficiaries by reducing the effects of water-borne and sanitation-related problems, he added.
Brar said the agreement was the third water project agreement between the World Bank and Ethiopia, adding that the loan would help Ethiopia meet the target set to provide potable water and toilets by 2015.
The loan is to be used to finance the construction of about 6 300 rural water schemes and the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems for about 70 towns, according to a statement from the World Bank, which added that around two million people would be connected to the formal water supply system in rural and urban areas of Ethiopia. – SAnews.gov.za-NNN-ENA
