CityLinks Program in Ethiopia

Local Economic Development Ethiopia partner cities: Adama (in Oromia region (state)), Dire Dawa (a “chartered city”), Public Service Delivery Gambella (in Gambella region), and Jijiga (Somali region) . Municipal Finance Population of the Ethiopian partner cities: Adama, 200,000; In September 2005, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Dire Dawa, 350,000; Gambella, 50,000; and Jijiga, 150,000 . granted ICMA an associate award under ICMA’s CityLinks program, to provide assistance to the Ethiopian cities of Addis Ababa and Adama for a U.S. partner communities: Portland, Oregon; Oldsmar, period of two years. As part of that work, ICMA established a partnership Florida; Flagler Beach, Florida; between the city of Adama and the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon. That part- and Port Orange, Florida . nership was intended to facilitate Adama’s local economic development, by Program dates: September 2005 attracting investments to the city and enhancing the relationship between to September 2009 . the public and private sectors there, with the ultimate goal of creating more Key program issues in Ethiopia: Good local government in Ethiopia jobs. After making several attempts to work with the city of Addis Ababa is becoming a priority, as the with little success, ICMA, in close consultation with USAID, decided to con- country is decentralizing power centrate all the program’s resources and efforts in the city of Adama. to its regional governments . The Somali and Gambella regions are considered “emerging regions,” Based on the success of the initial CityLinks work in Ethiopia, in April 2007, with low institutional capacity to USAID’s Ethiopia mission asked ICMA to assess a possible expansion of the perform essential functions, areas CityLinks program for the city of Dire Dawa (one of the two “chartered cit- that are prone to conflict, and a limited governmental presence ies” in Ethiopia); the Gambella region (state) and that region’s capital city, and delivery of public services . which is also called Gambella; and the Somali region and its capital city, The CityLinks program will focus on working with these two regions Jijiga. and the cities of Dire Dawa and Adama to strengthen institutional The April 2007 assessment led to a decision to expand the program to those capacity and to provide linkages new areas of the country, with a focus on local governance, public service between the governments and their citizens as a way of delivery, and local economic development. The program received $1,450,000 mitigating conflict . of additional funding for a two-year extension of the Ethiopia efforts, with the program to run through September 2009. As a result, the CityLinks program has increased its presence in Ethiopia, establishing an office in Addis Ababa (the country’s capital), along with two regional offices, in the city of Gambella and the city of Jijiga. The program also increased the level of resources to promote additional peer-to-peer exchanges from the United States to Ethiopia and among cities in Ethiopia. The added resources also helped build the institutional capacity of local and regional governments, by utilizing technical assistance and training provided by local professionals and international experts.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [  ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “The work undertaken during our visits Accomplishments in 2007 The new offices in Ethiopia will place CityLinks staff closer to the program’s with Ethiopian municipal officials was In February 2007, operating under stakeholders and beneficiaries. The personally fulfilling, and I was struck the initial Ethiopia CityLinks award, office in Addis Ababa is staffed with representatives from Portland, by the officials’ dedication and desire a local project director and a finance Oregon, worked with the staff of the coordinator, and there are regional to improve governance and service city of Adama to consolidate their coordinators located in both the city delivery systems.” relationship. Their efforts focused on of Jijiga and the city of Gambella. the institutionalization of the local The program is also tapping local Scott McGuff, fire chief, Oldsmar, economic development (LED) role in Florida expertise for short-term program the municipality through an LED unit needs. Under the program exten- managed by an LED specialist; plan- sion, future efforts will focus on local ning for an industrial district; market- governance and also expand the LED ing of Adama’s economic potential activities beyond the ones already to investors; and the expansion of a implemented in the city of Adama. In business incubator. That incubator all the CityLinks Ethiopia cities and helps small enterprises gain access to regions, the program will work on financing and other needed resources public finance, public service deliv- and build their skills in business ery, citizen participation, peer-to-peer planning, and thus grow their enter- exchanges, and training in leadership prises and employ more workers. skills for citizens and government officials. In addition, in the city of With its 2007 expansion to the three Dire Dawa, there will be a component new areas of Ethiopia, the CityLinks focusing on emergency prevention, program introduced a number of mitigation, and response. additional activities. To supplement the peer-to-peer exchanges between In November 2007, ICMA staff and Portland and Adama, the program pro-bono professionals from the U.S. added partnerships that involve three traveled to Ethiopia to plan the start- cities in the U.S. state of Florida: up of the expanded CityLinks pro- Oldsmar, Flagler Beach, and Port gram, and to meet with officials from Orange. Those three Florida com- various local, regional, and federal munities will be paired with the city agencies. of Dire Dawa and with the Somali region and its capital city, Jijiga. The partnership with Adama has While continuing to work with the continued to facilitate local eco- city of Adama, Portland will add a nomic development in that city. In partnership with Gambella region and November 2007, a memo of under- the city of Gambella. In the new three standing was signed by Adama areas of Ethiopia, the CityLinks pro- municipal officials, the Adama gram will be working with local and Chamber of Commerce, and ICMA, regional government authorities, civil in which the city agreed to establish society organizations, and private the position of an LED specialist. The sector entities. initial funding for the position will come from the CityLinks project, the

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [  ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks Adama municipal government, and are essential as Ethiopia continues to the Adama Chamber of Commerce. In move away from its current, highly 2009, after the end of the CityLinks centralized governmental system and project, both the municipality and the its strong limitations on the private Chamber of Commerce will continue ownership of land. Now, many funding the position. The position important decisions, such as the zon- will be central to developing LED ing of public property, are made by policies for the municipality, estab- higher levels of government. lishing public-private partnerships and other forms of synergy with Looking Forward the private sector, and implement- Over the next two years the CityLinks ing a long-term vision for increasing program in Ethiopia will continue Adama’s competitive advantages and expanding its activities and accom- future economic growth. plishments. In 2007, ICMA com- pleted the start-up phase of the In addition, Adama has agreed to new program, including recruiting host the city’s first economic develop- the program staff and establishing ment conference, which will promote the program office in Addis Ababa. Adama’s economic potential and During the first quarter of 2008, advantages for domestic and inter- based on a new work plan, the national investors. Finally, Adama CityLinks program will start imple- Two pro-bono professionals from the city of is progressing in planning an indus- menting the activities in the newly Portland, Oregon, visit the city of Adama trial district that will emphasize added cities and regions of Ethiopia. and meet with key municipality staff to agro-processing. This will provide discuss planning an industrial district. opportunities for producers in the Among the most noteworthy activi- Oromia region (of which Adama is ties that will be implemented in 2008 the capital) to process their products are: (1) a study on decentralization and market them to other regions of in the Gambella and Somali regions, the country. during the first months of 2008; (2) sanitation, public transit, water, and During 2007 the CityLinks program other public service delivery projects promoted new partnerships for in the cities of Gambella, Jijiga, and Adama, involving the program benefi- Dire Dawa; (3) a leadership training ciaries, agencies at different levels of program, during the third quarter government, and other donor pro- of 2008; and (4) a local economic grams. Pro-bono professionals from conference in Adama to promote the Portland, Oregon, facilitated meetings city’s economic potential among local between representatives of the city and international investors. of Adama and different federal and regional agencies concerned with A key future element of the CityLinks economic development, trade, and program will be the promotion of investment. These new relationships more city-to-city exchanges within will be important as the city works Ethiopia. For example, authorities to raise its profile and attract new from the city of Jijiga will participate business and investment. Such steps in peer-to-peer exchanges with the

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [  ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks “The experience [in Ethiopia] has affected me in a positive way, both professionally and personally. My personal ‘world’ has been greatly expanded, and the ‘global world’ has certainly become smaller!” Scott McGuff, fire chief, Oldsmar, Florida

The government of the Gambella region is undertaking an ambitious project to pave streets in the main corridor of the city of Gambella as part of a sound, multimodal public transit system in that city.

city of Dire Dawa, in the areas of learned. That, in turn, will contribute organizational development, human to the establishment of local net- resources, finance, and public service works in the country and learning delivery. In addition, over the next processes among peers. ICMA will two years, the CityLinks program will also promote the formation of associ- facilitate up to four workshops that ations of municipalities, which could will bring together representatives build long-lasting learning networks from Ethiopian cities to discuss com- among local government profession- mon concerns and to share lessons als in Ethiopia.

CityLinks 2007 Annual Report [  ] http://www.icma.org/citylinks