Ethiopia seeks 1 trn Birr for recovery, reconstruction
By Yared Nigussie
The government disclosed that estimated cost of reconstruction and recovery for Ethiopia in the aftermath of the war that has been actively held for two years amounted at least 1 trillion Birr.
Ethiopia’s federal government and regional forces from Tigray agreed last week Wednesday, November 2, 2022 to cease hostilities after talks mediated by the African Union (AU), a diplomatic breakthrough two years into a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.
The two parties agreed to cease conflicts, restoring services and expediting humanitarian aid, restoring law and order according to the constitution, and disarmament of fighters in Tigray, among others.
In his briefing to the diplomatic community based in Addis Abeba on the peace deal between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF, Ambassador Redwan Hussein, National Security Advisor of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said, “I heard the estimate from our Finance Minister it would require nearly 1 trillion Birr ($20 billion) to bring back the entire loss in both in schools and livelihoods, health and road facilities.”
“It’s a colossal damage we sustain imagine that would have been uplifting the country had been sat together because we’ve been calling for this,” Redwan said, adding, “No matter we’ve been killing each other in the end we’ll sit down and talk.”
He further told Addis based diplomats that, “Regional administrations vowed to disburse resources from their own pocket to assist areas which are afflicted by the conflict in Afar, Amhara and particularly Tigray region.”
Redwan also asked the international partners (including the diplomats) to support the reconstruction process.
