{"id":46111,"date":"2025-07-19T11:10:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T08:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/?p=46111"},"modified":"2025-07-19T11:10:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T08:10:50","slug":"world-bank-beefs-up-taskforce-in-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/46111\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bank Beefs up Taskforce in Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Ethiopia struggles to maintain the tempo of its economic reforms and avoid austerity-induced chaos, the World Bank Group has deployed a large number of teams to conduct performance evaluations and take measures on challenges being encountered in execution of Bank-financed projects, sources told The Reporter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Close to two dozen missions are assigned to follow up on the numerous World Bank-financed projects currently being implemented in Ethiopia, the sources said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMissions are a core part of the World Bank\u2019s operations and are conducted regularly to facilitate the implementation of development projects, ensure their effectiveness, and identify needs for further support,\u201d reads an email response from the World Bank. \u201cKey tasks include supervising and monitoring ongoing projects, reviewing implementation performance, resolving bottlenecks, providing technical assistance and advice, and ensuring compliance with environmental, social, and fiduciary standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the WB office told The Reporter that the number of missions should not be taken as being indicative of anything \u201cunusual\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of missions, or the occurrence of several simultaneous missions, should not be viewed as an indication of anything unusual,\u201d it said. \u201cEthiopia\u2019s portfolio is among the largest in the world, including a significant number of projects. This naturally necessitates a higher volume of missions, including those dedicated to analytical work and technical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said also that \u201cThe timing and frequency of missions are often shaped by factors such as the fiscal calendar, the availability of counterparts, and the need to coordinate with other development partners. In some instances, multiple missions may overlap due to coinciding project cycles or to capitalize on opportunities for greater efficiency by combining efforts across related projects or sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to questions about whether finances made available by the Bank were being put towards their intended purpose, WB country office told The Reporter that it has a robust system for ensuring accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll World Bank financing is subject to a vigorous system of accountability with stringent guidelines for procurement, and financial management to ensure that financing is used for its intended purpose,\u201d it said. \u201cThis includes assessing the capacity of implementing agencies, enforcing strict procurement and disbursement procedures, requiring regular financial reporting and independent audits, and conducting supervision missions to monitor progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office indicated its personnel use digital monitoring tools, enforce anti-corruption measures, and require all projects to establish local grievance redress mechanisms for stakeholder feedback. A Grievance Redress Service (GRS) allows individuals and communities to submit complaints directly to World Bank management.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the World Bank approved a one billion USD financing package for Ethiopia, consisting of a USD 650 million grant and 350 million in concessional credit to support the country’s economic reform agenda and promote inclusive growth.<\/p>\n

This funding, according to reports, was part of the Second Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Development Policy Operation (DPO) and builds on a previous operation from 2024.<\/p>\n

The financing, records show, was aimed at helping strengthen financial sector stability, boost trade competitiveness, improve domestic revenue mobilization, enhance public sector governance, and ensure social service sustainability under the Horn of Africa country\u2019s Homegrown Economic Reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of April 9th, 2025, the portfolio in Ethiopia consists of 47 active projects\u201437 national and 10 regional \u2014with a total commitment of USD 15.34 billion. This includes USD 12.28 billion allocated to national programs and USD 2.43 billion for regional integration, complemented by USD 0.63 billion in trust fund financing,\u201d a WGB strategy paper reads.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, the International Development Assistance (IDA)\u2014Ethiopia\u2019s largest provider of official development assistance\u2014has committed more than USD 30 billion to 167 projects in Ethiopia, including the Low Lands Livelihoods Resilience Project and Agriculture Growth Projects, Response\u2013Recovery\u2013Resilience for Conflict-Affected Communities Project, Locust Emergency Response and Flood Management Projects, Human Capital Development and Digital Foundations Projects, along with critical investments in energy, water, and transportation, according to the information made public on the WBG official webpage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of March 31, 2025, IFC has a committed portfolio of USD 345.1 million across 13 investment projects in Ethiopia and a well-diversified advisory portfolio of USD 49.7 million across 26 projects covering IFC\u2019s three industry groups: Financial Industries, Manufacturing Agribusiness and Services, and Infrastructure and Natural Resources.\u201d it reads. \u201cIFC is financing projects in cement, the cut flower sector, packaged food, coffee, poultry, health, telecoms, mining, and trade finance.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the WBG description, the projects in IFC\u2019s pipeline have spanned across infrastructure, manufacturing, telecom, renewable energy, agriculture value chains that support food security and local production covering the malt\/barley sector, poultry livestock, edible oil, and the financial sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Ethiopia struggles to maintain the tempo of its economic reforms and avoid austerity-induced chaos, the World Bank Group has deployed a large number of teams to conduct performance evaluations and take measures on challenges being encountered in execution of Bank-financed projects, sources told The Reporter. Close to two dozen missions are assigned to follow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":46112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1960,13],"tags":[1959],"class_list":{"0":"post-46111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news-in-ethiopia","8":"category-latest-ethiopian-political-news","9":"tag-front"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}