ETHIOPIA - Building Resilience of Youth and Women Entrepreneurs in Disaster Affected Areas (AFDB-P-ET-I00-009)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Ethiopia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Afar, Amhara, Tigray, Benishangul Gumuz and Somali
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • African Development Bank (AFDB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Nov 10, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Ethiopia - Ministry of Finance
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 20.18 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 22.42 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AFDB website

Updated in EWS Aug 10, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed resilience building project targeting disaster impacted youth and women led enterprises is designed to contribute to the realization of the country’s development strategies including the TYDP, the 2nd Homegrown Economic Reform (HGER) 2023 and the Ministry of Labour and Skills (MoLS) Ten Year Plan (2020 – 2030).

It will be implemented in five regions of Ethiopia that have been severely affected by internal conflict and climate change : Afar, Amhara, Tigray, Benishangul Gumuz and Somali. These regions have experienced significant disruptions to livelihoods and economic activities, leading to increased levels of unemployment, displacement, and vulnerability. The project is structured around four components designed to support the recovery and growth of disaster impacted youth and women micro and small enterprises and strengthen the entrepreneurship eco-system in the target areas :
(i) Access to Finance;
(ii) Enhanced Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Support & Business Development Services Delivery (BDS);
(iii) Support the Operationalization of Policy Reforms;
(iv) Project Management.

The estimated total project cost is UA 16.67 million over a period of 4 years.

The direct beneficiaries of the project are 4500 disaster impacted youth and women entrepreneurs, including IDPs and Returnees, in these five regions of the country. 

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental Category: [3] Low Risk

The project’s components, sub- components, and associated activities that will lead to outcomes will trigger: Low-environmental and social risks and impacts and is, therefore, categorized as Low-risk; Category 3.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The estimated total project cost is UA 16.67 million over a period of 4 years.
African Development Bank: UA 15,00
Government Counterpart Contribution: UA 1.67

Financial Instrument: Institutional Support and Rehabilitation Grant
Commitments (UA): 15,000,000
Conversion Rate USD (2025-12-09): 1,34533
Commitments (USD): 20,179,950


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Name: Mulumebet MERHATSIDK
Email: m.merhatsidk@afdb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/

How it works

How it works