The President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, has said the efforts of the Ethiopian government to reduce poverty and unemployment are ‘encouraging’. Mr Wolfensohn was speaking at a press conference at the end of his four day official visit to Ethiopia.

Mr Wolfensohn said Ethiopia’s development programmes aimed at attaining food self-sufficiency and the reduction of poverty could be exemplary to other African countries.

He also praised the activities of the Addis Ababa City Council in seeking to expand small and micro industries to combat unemployment, and the achievement of better harvests by farmers living around Debre-Zeit town through the support they received from the government, which showed sustainable development could be attained in other areas as well.

He commented that Ethiopia had learned from the experiences of countries like China, Israel and Vietnam which had helped the country’s progress towards overall economic development.  

The World Bank President went on to say that he had “personally witnessed the determination of the government to utilize the immense natural and human resources of the country that has enabled it to be on the right track of economic development” and noted the impact of amending the country’s investment code in successfully attracting local and foreign investors.

Mr Wolfensohn also spoke about the World Bank’s commitment to Ethiopia, saying that it would continue to provide support to the country for development programmes that change the lives of millions of Ethiopians.

ENDS