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Your Excellency Ato Ahmed Shide, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Endemen Aderachehu.
This is my fourth time to attend a signing ceremony for exchange of notes for grant-in-aid here at MOFED. It is a great honor for me to share this task today with Your Excellency.
The notes we have just signed and exchanged are for two grant-in-aid projects for which the Government of Japan will extend 1.382 billion Japanese Yen [equivalent to 308 million ETB at the current exchange rate] to the Government of Ethiopia. In more concrete terms, the following two projects will be funded:
Detailed design for the second half of the Rehabilitation of the Trunk Road, Phase IV (the segment between Lumame and Debremarkos) with 72 million Japanese Yen [equivalent to 16 million ETB],
Construction of Primary and Secondary Schools in the SNNPR with 1.31 billion Japanese Yen [equivalent to 292 million ETB].
These two projects are important as they are related to infrastructure and human resource development respectively. The Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) puts priority on food security and industrial development. Indeed, road networks are indispensible for the development of agriculture and industry. The same can be said of human resource development through education. It is for this reason that the Japanese Government decided to support these two projects. Now let me elaborate on each.
Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The road networks are indispensible for sustainable development in Ethiopia. The trunk road #3, which connects Addis Ababa, Bahir Dahr, Gondar and Khartoum has strategic importance, linking not only the north-western part of Ethiopia with the rest of the country but Ethiopia and Sudan also. It is crucial for the delivery of surplus cereal crops from the north to consumers in other parts of the country. It is also an arterial route for the shipment of oil products from Sudan, which accounts for about 80% of Ethiopia’s total oil imports.
With this grant, detailed design work will be conducted for the section between Lumame and Debremarkos, which is the last remaining segment of the Addis-Gohatsion-Debremarkos road to be rehabilitated. In this regard, I am pleased to mention that Japan has been working on this road since 1998 by extending 17.8 billion Japanese Yen [equivalent to 3.96 billion ETB at the current exchange rate] in grant-in-aid in four phases to date, for its rehabilitation and for the construction of the Millenium Bridge. In the meantime, good progress has been made regarding the rehabilitation of the Dejen-Lumame segment of the said road and the replacement of the Awash Bridge, the projects now underway with the grants we extended last year. Japan has also been cooperating with the Ethiopian Roads Authority for bridge management and maintenance, as well as counter-landslide measures, through technical cooperation.
The current Road Sector Development Program (RSDP IV: 2009/10-2014/15), aligned with the goals and targets of the GTP, plans to extend the existing road networks both at federal and regional levels from 49,000 km in 2009/10 to about 64,500 km in five years. The achievement during the past two years seems encouraging as the road networks reached about 57,000 km. However, still more efforts are required by both the Ethiopian Government and its development partners. Japan, as a long standing supporter of the sector, remains committed to complete its own projects in a timely manner.
Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would now like to move to the second grant-in-aid. Education is a great challenge in Ethiopia both in quantity and quality. It is one of the priority areas of the GTP and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The GTP and the Education Sector Development Program IV (ESDP IV: 2009/2010- 2014/2015) have a clear objective to produce competent, knowledgeable citizens to make Ethiopia a middle income country.
In line with this, and in order to improve the quality of education, the target number of students per teacher has been set at 50 for primary schools and 40 for secondary schools. However, the reality is different. While the average number of students per class at primary schools was 57 nationally in 2010/11, in SNNPR it was 67. Likewise, while the number of students per class at secondary schools was 61 on the national average in the same year, in SNNPR it was 80. The national averages did not yet meet the targets but schools in SNNPR were lagging even further behind, being more overcrowded than the national averages.
With this project in the SNNPR, 11 primary schools with 72 class rooms, and 10 secondary schools with 204 classrooms will be constructed. In total, 276 new classrooms will be made available together with school furniture and related equipment. This will be conducive for better access to basic education and an improved educational environment.
By the way, Japan has already been engaged in school construction projects in various regions since 2007 with grants of 2.849 billion Japanese Yen [equivalent to 634 million ETB at the current exchange rate]. They include the construction of 39 primary schools in the Oromia Region, the construction of seven primary schools and a secondary school in Addis Ababa as well as the construction of eight secondary schools and the expansion of nine existing secondary schools in the Amhara Region.
Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Japan has been engaged with the economic and social development of Ethiopia for many years. This year, we have modified our ODA policy so that we can better help Ethiopia implement the GTP with particular emphasis on food security and industrial development. We will keep close contact with Your Excellency and other concerned ministries so that our two governments continue to work together in better coordination for the sustainable development of Ethiopia.
Amesegnalehu.
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