ADDIS ABABA – Abbay Dam Coordination Office announced that it has mobilized more than 1.3 billion Birr to the construction of the mega project in the last 11 months.
The Office of the National Council for Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) announced that more than 1.3 billion Birr has been raised to the construction of the mega dam which is being built on the Abbay River.
Of the stated amount of finance, some 1.1 billion Birr was gained from domestic bond sales while 119.8 and 72.8 million Birr was collected through SMS fundraising, and from local grants respectively, the Office said.
In a report sent to The Ethiopian Herald, the Office expressed that the additional 15.6 million and 362,150 Birr respectively was gained from the diaspora support and PIN sales.
The Office also mentioned that it has mobilized over 106.9 million Birr in the month of May alone.
The significant portion of this amount, 94.6 million Birr, was collected from domestic contributors mainly through bond sales, it said, adding that the diaspora community has also contributed some 676,000 Birr through buying bonds.
Furthermore, the Office collected 11,108,374 and 10,000 Birr respectively from SMS fundraising and PIN sales. Moreover, local grants that have been given through the Ethiopian Electric Utility Offices contributed 537,862 Birr, the Office stated.
Since the beginning of the construction of the dam, cumulative contributions have reached more than 19.5 billion Birr of which, domestic bond sales have brought in 17.1 billion Birr which includes a diaspora contribution of 1.4 billion Birr and the finance raised from special fundraising events is also close to one billion Birr, the report indicated.
BY YESUF ENDRIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 28 JUNE 2024
