Ethiopia, Japan Sign Grant Agreement worth $2.7 Million

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia and Japan signed and exchanged notes on a “Grant Aid for Economic and Social Development Program (Provision of Rice), amounting to 2.7 million US dollars (or approximately 120 million Birr) on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the objective of the project is to meet the challenges of food and nutrition security in the East African nation.

The finance would help to increase the availability of cereals in the market, meet the heightened need for rice and cope with shortages during this unprecedented time, it added.

On the same day, the two governments signed a deferral agreement as part of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative endorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers in April 2020.

The initiative aims at helping countries concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of millions of the most vulnerable people, according to the ministry.

The agreements were signed between Yasmin Wohabrebbi, State Minister of Finance, and Ito Takako, Ambassador of Japan to Ethiopia, in a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance.