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UAE fund agrees $100m loan to support Ethiopian SMEs


UAE fund agrees $100m loan to support Ethiopian SMEs

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has signed a $100m loan agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance
By Sam Bridge
13 Mar 2020
The agreement was signed by Hussain Jasim Al Nowais, chairman of the Khalifa Fund, and Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance in Ethiopia.
The UAE's Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has signed a $100 million loan agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance to support small businesses in the African country.
The deal signed in Addis Ababa will support and finance micro, small, and medium-sized projects in Ethiopia.
The agreement was signed by Hussain Jasim Al Nowais, chairman of the Khalifa Fund, and Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance in Ethiopia.
Al Nowais said: “Under the terms of this agreement, we hope to help the Ethiopian economy to sustainably grow and benefit the welfare of its citizens.
“This agreement implements a stringent financial and technical framework that creates new employment opportunities, alongside empowering women to grow their role in the Ethiopian economic agenda."
He added that the funding will be invested in areas with higher indices of poverty to help in their economic development and the loan is expected to finance about 37,000 projects over the next four years and create over 200,000 job opportunities for young people.
Shide said: “I commend the efforts of both the UAE and of Khalifa Fund in ensuring the national economic development of Ethiopia, and supporting the growth of both our national entrepreneurial culture, as well as assisting other countries across the globe.
“This agreement not only helps to strengthening Ethiopia’s national economic development, but will also benefit Ethiopian citizens, providing more jobs, more skills, and more specialties, helping those in poverty in Ethiopia.”

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