A US government agency has delayed the disbursement of a $500 million Sh 53.97 billion loan to finance the entry of a Safaricom-led consortium into the Ethiopian telecoms market, citing uncertainty over the ongoing unrest in the country s Tigray region.
The US International Development Finance Corporation DFC said it was still weighing the escalation of armed conflict in the horn of Africa nation before it could release the loan.
The financing had earlier been thrown into doubt after the US State Financier threatened to recall the loan following allegations of violence against civilians in Tigray.
DFC is working closely with its partner agencies in the US government to monitor the situation in Tigray and will carefully consider its impact on any potential financing of the Vodafone consortium, the US State Agency told the Business Daily in an e-mail response.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is the DFC Board Chair, has said that the current environment in Ethiopia is marked by credible reports of armed forces committing acts of violence against civilians, including gender-based violence and other human rights abuses and atrocities. The Secretary of State has made a legal determination that the Government of Ethiopia has engaged in a pattern of gross violations of human rights and the US President has issued an executive order imposing sanctions on persons with respect to the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia, DFC said.
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