Ethiopia has signed a 250 million US dollars financing agreement with the World Bank to scale up support for low-income urban households and expand employment opportunities for young people
The additional funding will be channelled to the Urban Productive Safety Net and Jobs Project, a flagship programme aimed at improving incomes for the urban poor while strengthening labour market access for youth and women. The agreement was signed on January 14 by the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the financing will allow Ethiopia to expand labour-intensive public works, provide livelihood grants to vulnerable households, and support youth employment initiatives aligned with the country’s national job creation plan. The programme will also be extended to cover refugees and host communities in selected urban areas.
The project includes cash transfers and complementary services designed to support social and economic reintegration, part of a broader effort to strengthen Ethiopia’s urban social protection systems.
Urban unemployment has become a growing policy concern in Ethiopia as rapid urbanisation, a young population, and economic pressures strain labour markets. While the country has maintained relatively strong growth in recent years, job creation has lagged behind demographic expansion, particularly in cities.
The Urban Productive Safety Net and Jobs Project is one of several World Bank-backed initiatives supporting Ethiopia’s social protection and employment agenda. The Bank has been a long-standing development partner, with a portfolio spanning infrastructure, health, education, and social safety nets.
The agreement was signed virtually by Semereta Sewasew, state minister of finance, and Maryam Salim, the World Bank’s division director for Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan.