ADDIS ABABA – Finance Ministers of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan met in Djibouti city on Saturday to evaluate progress witnessed so far in areas such as trade and energy and to discuss the way forward.
The discussion took place under the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI).
During the meeting, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide commended the African Development Bank, the European Union, and the World Bank Group for their continued commitments in helping advance the implementation of the programs of the Horn of Africa Initiative.
The finance minister underscored the need to hone capacity in inclusive cross-border value chains across the Horn.
Ahmed also welcomed Sudan’s new status as a full member of HoAI, adding that the Initiative would develop new priorities to align Sudan’s economic development agenda with its program.
The current chair of the HoAI Secretariat, llyas Moussa Dawaleh, Minister of Economy and Finance of Djibouti noted that the Initiative has mobilized over US$3.3 billion so far from the three development partners to finance critical regional priorities.
These priorities include transport connectivity, energy trade, digital economy, trade facilitation, agro-pastoralism and locust control.
The Finance Ministers in Djibouti were joined by Nnenna Nwabufo, Director General East Africa of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Executive Secretary of IGAD, Workineh Gebeyehu, who is attending the meeting as an observer, to best exploit the regional organization’s knowledge and experience for further advancement of the programs and projects of the Initiative.
