ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopia underlined the need for ensuring equitable funding for Ethiopia and other developing nations through the international community cooperation .
This was noted while the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund(IMF),as well as the meeting of Ministers of the G-7 African were taken place in Washington DC recently.
Finance Minister Ahmed Shide emphasized that the international community should work cooperatively to make available fair financing for Ethiopia and other developing countries .
During the course of the meeting, Ahmed stated that the importance of concessional financing to Ethiopia and other developing countries in a bid to meeting the growing needs of these economies.
He added that Ethiopia and other developing countries are in need of continuous international cooperation to benefit with extended and low interest financing to meet growing financial needs.
The meeting discussed African financial challenges that need urgent solutions, including the growing debt stock, the importance of enhancing pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and green development, it was learnt.
The participants agreed that the international community should strengthen its cooperation in order to ensure the sustainable and reliable development of African countries, including the accumulation of resources such as self –led economic reform and investment plans, including raising resources independently.
Ahmed thanked the Italian Finance Minister for the invitation and briefed the participants on the ambitious pro-poor economic reform program Ethiopia is implementing under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), which is designed to modernize the economy and rebalance the sources of growth by shifting away from public towards private sector-led economy.
The Roundtable meeting was held in the presence of Finance Ministers and representatives from Benin, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritania, and Zambia, Finance Ministers of the G7, representatives of last, current and next Presidency of the G20 (India, Brazil, South Africa), as well as the African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina(PhD), the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, and the World Bank President Ajay Banga.
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 29 OCTOBER 2024
