Ethiopia to benefit from $ 100m UN grants
New York, 27 Dec – (ANA) - The United Nations agency tackling rural poverty is providing $ 100 million in financing for a programme to help poor households in Ethiopia gain access to financial services and diversify their income-generating activities. The $ 50 million loan and $ 50 million grant from the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) is for the Rural Financial Intermediation
Programme – Phase II (RUFIP II), according to a news release issued by the
Rome-based agency. Poor people living in Ethiopia’s rural areas need access to credit on a regular basis so they can build up their assets and diversify their income-generating activities, the agency noted. Without any collateral, they often depend on
moneylenders and pay exorbitant rates of interest.
Currently, only about 15 per cent of rural households have access to savings and
credit services. The RUFIP II programme, which will be implemented nationwide,
will build on the successes of the first phase, scaling up the delivery of
financial services from 3.3 million poor rural households in 2012 to 6.9 million
by the middle of 2019. (ANA)
FA/ANA/27 December 2011-------