US Economist Praises Ethio-China Cooperation for Revitalizing Ethiopia’s Rural Economy

Addis Ababa: The renowned American economist, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, underscored that cooperation with China has significantly contributed for revitalizing the rural economy of Ethiopia,

Professor Sachs highly reputed international living economist, recalled his experience that he had been in rural Ethiopia earlier this year and observed the overall developments of the East African nation.

In his visit, Sachs proved that China’s cooperation with Ethiopia invigorate the livelihood of impoverished rural farmers of Ethiopia.

According to the professor, China has vast capacity that should be enabling Africa to have 7 to 10 percent year economic growth by building out massive solar power, which is China’s specialty.

In this regard, the renowned economist lauded Ethio-China cooperation that has been bearing fruits in the energy sphere and other sectors.

‘I happened earlier this year to be in rural Ethiopia, and I got a real taste of it because China helped Ethiopia to finance massive hydropower.

And then it
also helped Ethiopia to build a fast rail for freight, in this case, from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to Djibouti to port on the Red Sea.’

In his visit, the economist also confirmed that rural farmers in Ethiopia have embarked on massive agricultural activities.

‘They (farmers) were basically telling me how they’re making money and growing avocados, which were unthinkable before,’ he indicated.

For him, farmers in Ethiopia have a market, because they can get fresh avocados to Dubai as long as they now have electricity for greenhouses, for transport, for processing, for cooling, for refrigeration.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs added that those Ethiopian farmers have a fast rail, which gets their product which is perishable to the port, to the markets of the region and those are rich markets, nearby across the Red Sea.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency