Eritrea, African Development Bank sign loan, aid agreement

ASMARA, Mar 15, 2005 (ERINA) — The African Development Bank (ADB) extended 20.8m US dollar in loan and 7.7m US dollar in assistance for the development of the education sector in Eritrea.

The assistance is in line with the efforts being made to promote human resources development in the country through standard education curricula.

The agreement was signed by the minister of national development, Dr Woldai Futur and Ms Zeineb al-Bakri, vice president of the ADB for the north, south and east desks of the bank. Ms Zeineb said that the organization would continue extending support to Eritrea towards improving the living standard of the people. The money secured would be used for the construction of 345 new elementary and junior schools.

It is to be noted that the African Development Bank has been cooperating with Eritrea since 1996, and so far it has contributed 118m US dollar in the form of loan and assistance for the implementation of eight projects.