India and Ethiopia reached an agreement on Thursday on granting a loan of over 250 million birr (28.8 million U.S. dollars) to Ethiopia to boost the Horn of Africa country's power development.

The loan, to be provided by the Indian Import-Export Bank, will be used for the installation of the Hageremariam-Mega electric power transmission line and electrifying rural towns and villages in the area.

In Ethiopia, only 13 percent of the population have access to electricity but that is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2012.

Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest and most indebted countries. Its development efforts have to rely on massive foreign aid.

Source: Xinhua