Breaking Logjam

Ethiopia: BII-FMO lending facility to Dashen Bank can be catalyst for Ethiopian exports

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on September 7, 2023 04:00

Workers remove coffee beans that did not meet the necessary grading in Holiso cooperative of Shebedino district in Sidama © Agricultural workers at the Holiso cooperative in Shebedino district in Sidama, Ethiopia November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Maheder Haileselassie — Agricultural workers at the Holiso cooperative in Shebedino district in Sidama, Ethiopia November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Maheder Haileselassie

The initiative targets agriculture, which accounts for about 90% of Ethiopia’s foreign currency export earnings, employs 80% of the population and contributes 39% to GDP.

British International Investment (BII) aims to help kickstart Ethiopian agricultural exports via a new lending facility to Dashen Bank, BII’s Africa Coverage director Vivianne Infante tells The Africa Report.

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