The European Investment Bank (EIB) has vowed to provide $110 million to support Ethiopia’s Rural Financial Intermediation Improvement Programme (RUFIP III), a flagship initiative aimed at expanding access to finance for rural communities and strengthening the country’s financial inclusion framework.

The announcement came during discussions between Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance, and senior officials from the European Commission and the EIB on the sidelines of the joint annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Talks centred on consolidating cooperation in infrastructure and financial sector development, while exploring further support for Ethiopia’s ongoing reform efforts.

Ahmed Shide acknowledged the EIB’s continued role in supporting small and medium enterprises, clean water projects, and women’s employment programmes. He urged the bank to expand its involvement in the Rural and Inclusive Sustainable Economic Development (RISED) initiatives and the manufacturing sector.

Tureya Trikkin, EIB’s Director for Global Partnerships, confirmed the bank’s intention to extend the $110 million financing to implement the third phase of RUFIP, which aims to improve rural financial intermediation and deepen credit access for smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs.

RUFIP, which was first introduced in 2001, is jointly implemented by the Development Bank of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Finance with support from international partners. The programme seeks to strengthen rural savings and credit cooperatives (RUSACCOs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs), bridge liquidity gaps, and improve access to credit for low-income households.

Earlier phases of the programme benefited nearly seven million rural households, while the ongoing RUFIP III targets around 13.5 million smallholder farmers, women, and youth. The current phase also integrates financial literacy, climate risk insurance, and digital services to make rural finance more resilient and inclusive.

Despite progress, previous assessments have identified regulatory gaps, limited supervision of rural cooperatives, and liquidity shortages as persistent challenges. RUFIP III is therefore designed to address these weaknesses while aligning with Ethiopia’s National Agri-finance Implementation Roadmap (2025–30), which prioritises inclusive rural financial systems and private sector participation.