East African Finance Ministers meet in Djibouti to discuss economic integration

Addis Ababa, February 3, 2020 (FBC) –Finance Ministers of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya and Somalia met today in Djibouti to discuss on policy directives that seek fostering economic integration and regional cooperation in the Horn of Africa.

In the two-day meeting, the ministers will evaluate the joint trade and investment activities undertaken since the five countries came together to launch the Horn of Africa Initiative last year.

After considering the global experiences in regional integration, the countries will discuss ways to search sources of finance for the $15 billion required to foster cooperation.

In today’s session, they evaluated the progressed made in the implementation of the deals signed in transport, power and digital infrastructures as encouraging, according to a statement the Ministry of Finance sent to FBC today.

In his remarks, Dr Eyob Tekalign, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance said, the countries should do more to create employment opportunities for the youth and expand infrastructures.

He further underscored the need to seize the wind of change blowing through the Horn of Africa to improve the lives of the people who have been affected for long period.

The five countries launched the Horn of Africa Initiative last year during the World Bank Group / the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings held in Washington DC.

They agreed to take forward discussions on fostering economic integration and regional cooperation, with the support of the European Union, African Development Bank, and the World Bank.