Ethiopia,US sign MoU to cooperate in various sectors

The signing of the MOU comes following the visit of U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Gilbert Kaplan, together with members of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, to Ethiopia this week.

Kaplan signed the MoUs with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC), Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Electricity of Ethiopia at the Sheraton Addis yesterday.

The MoU signed between Kaplan and Abraham Tekeste, Minister of MoFEC provides a roadmap whereby the government of Ethiopia will identify priority projects in key sectors that help Ethiopia achieve its priorities for growth.

The US will share that information with US companies that could compete to supply solutions, materials, and expertise to fulfill those projects.

Kaplan and the Ethiopian Minister of Trade Melaku Alebel also signed MoU which includes USADF’s continued transformation of rural communities in Ethiopia by providing direct seed capital investment into 100% owned Ethiopian enterprises.

Similarly, Power Africa signed a MoU with the government of Ethiopia, reaffirming commitment to increasing electricity access in Ethiopia through private sector-led projects. 

Power Africa is a U.S. Government-led partnership coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Launched in 2013, Power Africa aims to add at least 30,000 megawatts (MW) of new electrical power capacity and 60 million electrical connections across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 by unlocking sub-Saharan Africa’s wind, solar, hydropower, gas, geothermal, and other resources.

To help achieve Ethiopia’s goals of expanding access to electricity, Power Africa supports the development of new generation and connections, rehabilitation of the distribution system, self-sufficient , and delivering power to the majority of the population living off-grid.

SOURCE:FBC