[{"bbox": [97, 153, 1134, 340], "category": "Text", "text": "Accordingly, the action aims to bring transformative impacts targeting specific aspects of the business environment and investment climate in Ethiopia. It further aims at unlocking the potential of the private sector through addressing key business environment constraints. The support to private sector ecosystems in general and MSMEs in particular, as well as the strengthening of the capital markets will contribute to the rehabilitation and recovery process of the local economy, the creation and preservation of decent and green jobs, and an overall strengthening of capital generation to the private sector, enabling entrepreneurs and businesses to meet their capital needs in a context of economic instability."}, {"bbox": [97, 365, 1134, 471], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will address specific regulatory hurdles faced by operators along the selected value chains for reforms at all levels, policy, procedural and operational. It will provide targeted capacity building and the development of systems and tools for transformative impacts in these value chains. Its service delivery as well as advocacy components will further be closely associated with private sector institutions and BMOs."}, {"bbox": [97, 497, 1134, 577], "category": "Text", "text": "The action leverages key lessons learnt from past and ongoing EU-financed interventions. It aims at unleashing the potential of the private sector in key value chains where Ethiopia has significant comparative advantages including coffee and horticulture."}, {"bbox": [97, 603, 1134, 709], "category": "Text", "text": "The action will contribute to the EU Gender Action Plan III,¹ in particular to its thematic area: “Promoting economic and social rights and empowering girls and women”. Likewise, it will contribute to the implementation of the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024."}, {"bbox": [72, 725, 490, 754], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 1.3 Zone benefitting from the Action"}, {"bbox": [85, 773, 1143, 800], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action shall be carried out in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, included in the list of ODA recipients."}, {"bbox": [85, 832, 322, 864], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [70, 898, 219, 925], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [97, 944, 1134, 1263], "category": "Text", "text": "Ethiopia is the second most populous country and constitutes the fifth largest economy in Africa with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at USD 192 billion in early 2024. Since 2018, the socio-economic situation in the country has been affected by the global pandemic, Russian aggression on Ukraine and not least a devastating conflict in the northern parts of the country. Macroeconomic stability remains under pressure following the above shocks and. The consequences of this scenario are high inflation, increased risk of debt default, precarious foreign currency reserves due to worsening trade balance and a widening fiscal deficit. The government has so far introduced a number of policies to maintain economic stability including the Home Grown Economic Reform Agenda (1.0 since 2019 and 2.0 which has just been adopted in 2024), the Ten Year Perspective Development Plan and various proclamations, regulations and directives that deak with structural and sectoral issues. In 2022, Ethiopia had an overall gender gap index score of 0.71, placing it 74 th out of 156 countries globally. During the period under review, gender disparity diminished slightly from 0.66 in 2016 to 0.71 in 2020, before slightly widening again in 2021²."}, {"bbox": [97, 1288, 1134, 1422], "category": "Text", "text": "To this day, little to no reliable and up-to-date data is available on persons with disabilities in the country, both for displaced and non-displaced populations. This lack of data is highly limiting for any action regarding disability inclusion. Indeed, this lack of information concerns also the knowledge on “access to services and quality of life for persons with disabilities in Ethiopia, as well as on how experiences differ by gender, age, education, ethnicity and displacement settings”. The most recent data on the number of persons living with disabilities in Ethiopia is"}, {"bbox": [85, 1501, 1143, 1623], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹ The Gender Action Plan III is a Joint communication by the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy which was welcomed through EU Presidency Conclusions of 16 December 2020. Drafting was led by European Commission in close consultation with EU Member States, EEAS, civil society organisations, partner governments, and international organisations (UN entities, International Finance Institutions among others). The different parties contributed to the drafting of the document through meetings and through responses to a survey conducted during the process."}, {"bbox": [85, 1622, 495, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² Ethiopia: gender gap index 2016-2022 | Statista"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 27"}]