The World Bank and the Ministry of Finance & Economic Development (MoFED) signed a 120 million dollar loan and grant agreement on Friday, March 29, 2013, targeting the improvement of the health sector in Ethiopia.
The loan, which amounts to 100 million dollars, is an interest free loan from the International Development Assistance (IDA) arm of the World Bank, whilst the remaining 20 million dollars is a grant contributed by the governments of the United Kingdom and Norway, according to Rahana Ghandam(MD), the Bank’s risk team leader. The agreement was signed by Sufian Ahmed, minister of Finance & Economic Development, and Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank country director for Ethiopia, at the Ministry’s office on King George Street.
The money will be disbursed over the coming four years, depending on the results achieved in the process.
There are eight health sector areas that will benefit from the agreement, including; contraceptive and immunisation coverage, ante-natal care and skilled birth attendance. Ante-natal care will receive 15 million dollars, whilst the others will each be granted 20 million dollars.
The money will be disbursed based on the results achieved in each benefitting area, as well as on improved data reporting by health centres and more transparent procurement. The Bank will use data from the Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) to measure the results.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has conducted adequate preparation, in order to achieve the target. The number of health centres has reached 3,000 in the country and maternal education programs were started two years ago, in coordination with obstetricians.
“Ethiopia is prepared to achieve results in the benefitting areas,” said Abduljelil Reshad, director for resource mobilisation & partnership coordination at the MoH, adding that Ethiopia already has 3,000 health care providing facilities.
“We have also started a free child delivery service in all government health facilities,” he added.
The IDA was established in 1960 to provide zero interest financing and grants for projects and programmes. The World Bank is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 81 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa.
Leave a Reply