Finland’s relations and development cooperation in Ethiopia
Finland’s development cooperation in Ethiopia promotes peace and society’s resilience and supports sustainable growth and digitalisation.
Water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia have improved considerably through Finnish development cooperation. Thanks to the over 20,000 water points that have been constructed in Ethiopia with Finland’s support, over five million people have gained access to safe water services. Today, 1.4 million people have access to improved sanitation facilities (latrines).
Ethiopia remains among the world’s least developed countries, yet it stands out as one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies. Ethiopia has implemented major economic, social and political reforms in recent years.
Positive developments in Ethiopia are hampered by the deteriorating security situation, especially after the Tigray conflict, natural disasters, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and migration. Despite challenges, Ethiopia is moving forward with reforms.
Finland and Ethiopia have long-standing relations, rooted in development cooperation that began in the 1960s. Finland has supported Ethiopia in the agricultural, forest and education sectors, strengthened the democratic process and human rights, improved water supply and provided humanitarian assistance. Together with the donor community, Finland supports Ethiopia in reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Over the years, ties have broadened to include political, commercial and economic cooperation. Finland wants to further deepen and expand these ties in the next few years, with the aim of doubling trade between Finland and African countries from 2020 to 2030. During the same period of time, efforts will be made to significantly increase Finnish companies’ investments in Africa and African companies’ investments in Finland.
The objectives of Finland’s comprehensive activities are described in the new Country Programme for Development Cooperation in Ethiopia. In 2025–2028, Finland will focus on supporting reforms that promote resilience, peace building and democracy in Ethiopia and on advancing digitalisation, trade and business relations, and investments.
Expected outcomes of Finland’s development cooperation in Ethiopia in 2025–2028
Finland’s Country Programme for Development Cooperation in Ethiopia for 2025–2028, the fourth of its kind, supports Ethiopia’s efforts towards a peaceful, resilient and prosperous society in line with the country's national development plan for 2021–2030.
In the previous programming period in 2021–2024, Finland’s support was directed to rural development, the improvement of water services and the development of the quality of basic education.
Finnish development cooperation promotes peace and resilience
Finland supports reforms that promote peacebuilding, democracy and social stability, such as national dialogue. A particular focus is placed on the ability of vulnerable groups, such as girls, women and persons with disabilities, to participate in dialogue and mediation. Finland promotes peace by engaging in policy dialogue with multilateral actors and through civil society organisations’ peace efforts. Social sustainability will be strengthened by improving the quality of education and people’s access to water and sanitation services.
Expected outcomes
- Sustainable peace and reconciliation
- Improved learning outcomes in general education, including for children with disabilities
- Increased equitable access to education for disadvantaged children and young people
- Improved access to sustainable rural community-led water, sanitation and hygiene
- Ethiopians in the most vulnerable circumstances are provided humanitarian assistance and protection
- Strengthened civil society
Ongoing programmes and projects
- The Ethiopia Education Transformation Operation for Learning (ETOL) programme to develop pre-primary education and improve teachers’ professional skills and children’s learning outcomes, Finland’s funding is EUR 9.5 million for 2025–2029
- Technical Assistance for Teacher Education for Inclusion and Quality in Ethiopia (TEFIQ), Finland’s funding is EUR 5 million for 2025–2028
- A joint project with UNICEF to promote learning opportunities for children who have missed out on education due to crises, Finland’s funding is EUR 6.75 million for 2025–2027
- The community-led rural water services and sanitation project COWASH, Finland’s funding is EUR 15.4 million for 2025–2029
- Support for the work of Finnish and international actors engaged in humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia
- Support for development projects and programmes of Finnish and local CSOs in Ethiopia.
Finland's development cooperation supports private-sector-led sustainable growth and digitalisation
The private sector plays an important role in driving development in Ethiopia. Under the Country Programme, Finland and Ethiopia will advance trade relations, corporate cooperation and investments between the countries, building on Ethiopia’s economic reforms and growth opportunities.
Expected outcomes
- Improved quality and relevance of digital learning and skills in technical and vocational education and training
- Sustainable economic growth and climate change action through expansion of the digital land administration
- Improved rural connectivity and digital infrastructure Finnish companies play a growing role in implementing and financing the Country Programme, as far as conditions allow.
Ongoing programmes and projects
- The DESTA project to advance the digitalisation of vocational training, EU funding of EUR 5 million + Finland’s funding of EUR 800,000 for 2025–2029
- The REILA land administration project, EU funding of EUR 9.75 million + Finland’s funding of EUR 9.5 million for 2025–2029
- Finland’s first PIF (Public Sector Investment Facility) project in Ethiopia will strengthen the capacity of Ethiopia Meteorological Institute and enable the deployment of four modern weather radars, lightning warning systems and the SmartMet system developed by Vaisala.
- Projects implemented under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy will, among other things, enhance data connections in rural areas.
- The role of Finnish companies in the Country Programme will be reinforced together with private sector actors and networks, including the Team Finland network, Finnfund and the Finnpartnership Business Partnership Programme and other private sector instruments.
Highlights of the Results Report 2021-2024
In 2024, over three million Ethiopians remained internally displaced due to the conflict in northern Ethiopia, which ended in 2022, and several other outbreaks of regional violence. Most of the country suffered from drought, floods and earthquakes. Over 20 million people needed humanitarian assistance.
Finland has funded a development project for agricultural value chains (AgroBIG II). The project ended at the end of 2023 after six and a half years of operation. More than 10,000 jobs were created during the project, benefiting 478,000 farmers, almost half of them women. The project provided more than 50,000 advisers with additional training in developing value chains for agricultural products. Micro-loans and seed financing provided by the project, along with micro-loans for women’s saving groups backed by the project enabled farmers to make key additional investments to boost profitability, such as purchasing higher-quality seeds or by developing processing.
By the end of 2024, already 29 million plot certificates in 423 administrative districts had been recorded in the digital land registry, introduced by the Ethiopian Government and developed in Finland’s bilateral land administration project REILA. Land registration has many positive effects, for example enabling farmers to cultivate perennial plants and obtain a loan from the bank. This strengthens the financial position of women and persons with disabilities. The registry also reduces conflicts caused by land disputes. The system has enabled extensive and effective land registration that is unique in international terms and supports Ethiopian land administration reforms and social stability.
The bilateral COWASH IV project between Finland and Ethiopia promoted access to clean water, functional water supply systems and sanitation and hygiene. By the end of 2024, the project had helped to build and restore 3,480 water systems in communities, schools and health centres, benefiting nearly one million Ethiopians. What is more, a total of 5.23 million people benefited from the national water supply and sanitation programme, funded by Finland and other parties, during 2021–2024.
Various crises affected children's access to school, and the number of children not in education tripled between 2021 and 2024, reaching 9 million. Finland continued to support basic education in crisis areas and link education with child protection. In the regional states of Tigray and Amhara, nearly 90,000 children gained access to learning and protection. The number of resource centres for inclusive education, created with Finland’s help, increased, and the number of children with disabilities participating in education grew from 59,000 to 152,000 during the programme period.
In line with Finland’s trade and development policy objectives, cooperation projects and policy dialogue with the Ethiopian authorities advanced a human rights-based approach, non-discrimination, gender equality and climate resilience and promoted favourable conditions for the private sector during the programme period.
Finland’s cooperation partners in Ethiopia
The Country Programme will be implemented in close cooperation with various stakeholders.
Ethiopia is one of the most popular focus countries for the Finnish Civil Society Organizations working in development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. The CSOs’ projects promote the Country Programme’s objectives and strengthen civil society. Finland funds cooperation between Finnish and local civil society organisations in Ethiopia to promote, among other things, the economic empowerment and livelihoods of women and young people, a stronger peace and democracy and enhanced security, access to and the quality of education, the realisation of gender equality and human rights and the status of children, persons with disabilities and refugees.
The involvement of Finnish companies in implementing and financing of the Country Programme will be promoted as far as conditions allow. This will be done in cooperation with private sector actors and networks, such as the Team Finland network, Finnfund and the Finnpartnership Business Partnership Programme.
Finland further supports Ethiopia’s economic and social development by providing funding for UN organisations, especially for the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), UN Women and UNICEF, and for international development finance institutions. Multilateral cooperation also takes place with the European Union, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Many protracted conflicts and recurring natural disasters, such as drought and floods in parts of the country, sustain a high demand for humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia. Finland provides needs-based humanitarian assistance especially via the UN's humanitarian organisations and Finnish civil society organisations. Humanitarian needs are also addressed by supporting the efforts of other humanitarian organisations and as part of the EU.
As an EU Member State, Finland participates in the dialogue between the Government of Ethiopia and different actors in society. Recently, discussions have focused on the security situation, access to humanitarian assistance and Ethiopia’s elections. Moreover, Finland is exploring opportunities for participating in the EU’s joint programmes in development cooperation and other sectors. Steps will be taken to further engage Finnish government agencies and public bodies in development cooperation in Ethiopia. The Nordic countries cooperate closely in policy dialogue and in advancing corporate cooperation, among other matters.
Team Finland cooperation
Finland and Ethiopia seek to boost both direct trade between their countries and trade facilitated by Finnish public sector operators, such as Finnfund, which receive funding from development cooperation appropriations. Particularly telecommunications and the energy, water, agricultural and education sectors may provide opportunities at the interface of development cooperation and commercial cooperation.
Team Finland network in Ethiopia