Support for water and sanitation sectors

The African Development Bank (ADB) has given a US $64.32 million grant to Ethiopia to finance rural water supply and sanitation programmes, the Ethiopian News Agency has reported. The agreement was signed on Saturday by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Sufian Ahmed, and ADB President Donald Kaberuka. The grant will be used, among other things, to finance the repair of water supply systems, construct latrines for schools and health centres, provide rural water supply and sanitation as well as communal latrines in highly populated areas. Kaberuka said the rural water supply and sanitation programme would improve access to water and sanitation for about 2.5 million rural people. "Ethiopia is one of our biggest operations, since 1970 the ADB has invested around $2 billion in this country," he added. "It is a test for our capacity to help African countries to achieve the [UN] Millennium Development Goals." Kaberuka, who was in Ethiopia on a two-day visit, also met the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Omar Konare, and the Secretary-General of the Economic Commission for Africa, Abdoulie Janneh.