Addis Ababa: Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide met the newly appointed African Development Bank (AfDB) Country Manager for Ethiopia and Deputy Director General for the East Africa, Leandre Bassole. In his welcoming remarks, Minister Ahmed Shide underscored the vital role of the AfDB's support in recent years, especially in the infrastructure sector. He stressed the importance of ongoing assistance from the Bank to advance Ethiopia's reform agenda, highlighting the need for substantial investment and collaboration with key partners to achieve the government's objectives. Leandre Bassole applauded Ethiopia's achievements thus far, reiterated the AfDB's unwavering support as a long-standing development partner, and assured the Minister of the Bank's commitment to leverage new financing opportunities, aligned with the ongoing projects. Finally, the Minister expressed appreciation for the Bank's valuable financial and technical assistance and called for continued strong partnership and collaboration. In their c onclusion of the meeting, the two parties signed a 1 million USD Grant Agreement which will finance the 'Emergency and Humanitarian Assistance to Population Affected by Flood and Landslide' project. The resource will support the recently affected communities by floods and landslides in the country, according to information obtained from Finance Ministry. Source: Ethiopian News Agency