The announcement followed a meeting between Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and IsDB Chairman Muhammad Al Jasser on the country’s economic development activities on the sidelines of the 37th African Union Heads of State and Government Summit.

Shide claimed that Ethiopia overcame several challenges and registered economic and social changes, as well as the leading role played by East Africa through the Horn of Africa Initiative.

The Finance heads of the five Horn of Africa countries (Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea) jointly launched the basis of that strategy on October 18, 2019, that seeks regional and coordinated cooperation to address common development challenges.

Al Jasser, on the other hand, noted that the partnership between Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia is natural and recalled the support to 44 Ethiopian projects at present.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a grant funding agreement for humanitarian services was signed, in addition to reviewing avenues to enhance cooperation through trade finance, scholarship and capacity building in Islamic finance.

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