Austria rejects Ethiopian calls for more assistance
Addis Ababa — Austria has rejected calls from Ethiopian officials for more Austrian development cooperation (OEZA) assistance.
Ethiopian Finance Minister Sufian Ahmed yesterday (Tues) in Addis Ababa asked Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, who is on a visit to the Horn of Africa, for more assistance because of falling demand for Ethiopian exports like coffee, fewer remittances by Ethiopians living abroad and a lack of funds for fertilizer for the next crop.
But foreign minister said: “No one knows how long the crisis will last, and we therefore cannot project a scenario in which we can increase our assistance.”
Most Austrian aid to Ethiopia funds water-supply and sanitation projects and programmes to strengthen civil society and democratic development.
The Austrian Development Agency (ADA), which administers OEZA, said in its last annual report that Austrian direct aid to Ethiopia was 4.5 million Euros in 2007 and to 5.2 million Euros if indirect aid was taken into account.
Spindelegger will visit Uganda, another OEZA priority country in Africa, tomorrow and Friday.
- By Lisa Chapman | Austrian Times
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