Addis Ababa September 06/2018 Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed said that China has agreed to extend debt repayment period for Addis Ababa-Djibouti cross-border railway.
According to him, China has pledged to extend debt repayment period for a loan it has acquired to construct Ethio-Djbouti railway from 10 to 30 years.
Mentioning that Ethiopia has received huge amount of loan and investment from China, the two countries held extensive discussions on ways of balancing the trade volume between Ethiopia and China, he stated.
Prime Minster Abiy who was in Beijing to attend the 7th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation had a bilateral dialogue with Chinese officials particularly, the two sides agreed on extending loan payment, revising interest rates and identifying options that enable to shift from loan to development assistance, he indicated.
He noted that “During our stay in China, we have got a chance to make some adjustment on some types of loans, especially an opportunity was gained on the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway.”
“We conducted wide ranges of discussions with China especially how can we balance the trade volume between the two counties and increase our export products to China through expanding the destination for Ethiopian Airlines,” the Premier added.
Moreover, the two parties have reached an agreement on loan adjustments of some projects and expand assistance, he said.
Upon his arrival to Addis Ababa, the Premier briefed journalists on his trip to China which he said was successful and fruitful. He noted that Ethiopia participated on Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and was also invited for an official visit to China.
On the sidelines of the FOCAC, Ethiopia conducted successful bilateral discussions with different countries and international organizations including China, he pointed out.
He stated that Beijing is pledging to extend new funding worth 60 billion USD to Africa, aimed at supporting African inclusive development, adding that Ethiopia will exert a maximum effort to utilize its fair-share from the assistance.
“We need to have a better position and readiness in order to best benefit from the allocated resource (60 billion USD),” he pointed out.
China also says it will cancel a substantial amount of debts wipe for certain African countries when interest-free loans come due later this year, it was learnt.
Ena
