EIB to provide loan to Ethiopia for enhancing power distribution

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's long-term financing institution, is providing a EUR 25 mm loan from risk capital resources for the financing of improvement measures to urban power distribution in 8 Ethiopian cities.
The project is part of a larger, $ 200 mm, project co-financed with the World Bank and IDA.

The Ethiopian power grid needs urgent rehabilitation due to back maintenance. Less than 10 % of the population is connected. The current project concerns supply as well as maintenance aspects of the existing power supply system. It aims to improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply and extend supply to new customers.
More reliable and extended electricity supply will provide the basic utility for the growth of business and encourage economic development.

The borrower is the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, funds will be on lent to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) at conditions commensurate with HIPC consessionality.
The loan will provide long-term financing for the project, which is otherwise unavailable domestically. The parallel funding of World Bank and the EIB is of vital interest for the development sector.