The World Bank approved a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit to support Ethiopia’s goal of achieving universal electricity access by 2025.In a statement issued on  Tuesday, the World Bank said over the past decade, the Government of  Ethiopia has  made encouraging progress on its electrification program   and  expanded the grid network coverage to nearly 60 percent of towns  and villages.

Despite this progress, Ethiopia has the third  largest energy access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa with more than half  the population still without access to reliable electricity especially  in deep-rural areas which are dependent on biomass and kerosene. The  electricity deficit in Ethiopia continues to exacerbate the poverty  situation, preventing far too many people from fulfilling their basic  socio-economic needs and limiting access to opportunity.

The  Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia (ADELE)  Project is an important component of Ethiopia’s National Electrification  Program (NEP), which aims to strategically change direction from  infrastructure development to the delivery of adequate, reliable and  affordable electricity services with a vision to reach universal  electrification by 2025.

“With a goal of providing electricity  services for nearly 5 million people, 11,500 enterprises and 1,400  health and education facilities, the project represents the World Bank’s  continued support to the Government of Ethiopia’s NEP and is aligned  with our commitment to support Ethiopia’s resilient recovery from the  COVID 19 pandemic. It is also an important step towards improving  service delivery and addressing drivers of fragility and conflict” said  Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia.