5 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The National Bank of Ethiopia will inject 90 million dollars (about 83 million euros) into the capital of the Tigray region, Mekelle, to solve the cash crisis in the city, the former stronghold of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray ( TFLP), in a new step forward towards reconciliation after two years of violent armed conflict.
The situation in the city has been relatively calm since the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement in Pretoria (South Africa), but the lack of cash in circulation has made the recovery of this town, a key trade center in the north of the country, extremely difficult. .
For this reason, the country’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has ordered an increase in the liquid with a provision that exponentially multiplies the amount initially allocated (about 350,000 euros) to the local economy.
The statement from the National Bank of Ethiopia, picked up by the Ethiopian state broadcaster, FANA, confirms that the first batch of this new consignment will leave this coming Monday in the direction of the city.
Hours earlier, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education had announced the start of the reconstruction process for more than 70 schools destroyed by the war between the Ethiopian Army and the TPLF.
The reconstruction will be financed by the World Bank (WB), the German charity Menschen für Menschen and the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (DTF), and will begin in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, also affected by the conflict.
The Ethiopian Minister of Education, Professor Berhanu Nega, has assured that the schools will be built in compliance with the relevant standard and with the necessary infrastructure, according to statements collected by the ‘Addis Standard’.
The announcement comes after the meeting held on Friday between the Ethiopian Prime Minister and a TPLF delegation for the first time since the signing of the peace agreement in Pretoria (South Africa) in November last year, which set out the guidelines for peace.
Internationally, the Somali government is also expected to approve shortly an expansion of direct flights from Mogadishu to Mekelle from three to five a day, according to Somalia’s national security adviser Redwan Hussien, al Garowe on Line.
