Weeks of heavy rains and flooding have ​now killed 108 people ‌in Kenya, the National Police Service said on Saturday ​in an updated ​death toll.

Flash floods, which began ⁠on the evening ​of March 6, have caused ​widespread destruction in the East African nation, sweeping away dozens ​of vehicles, disrupting ​air travel, and damaging power infrastructure.

Over ‌2,700 ⁠families have been displaced across the country, authorities said on Friday. While the ​intensity ​of ⁠rainfall has eased in some areas, police ​cautioned that the ​risk ⁠of flooding persists due to overflowing drainage systems ⁠and ​waterlogged ground.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia’s rural corridor development initiative, which is an extension of the broader concept of city corridor development, aims to bring similar improvements in the living standards of rural communities.

The PM said that “just as we are working to improve the livelihoods of our citizens in urban areas and make life easier, rural corridor development is about doing the same in the countryside”.

He noted that despite agricultural productivity, many rural households continue to face difficult living conditions.

“If you go to rural areas, you will see that even when farmers produce well, they often live in a single-room house where livestock and family members share the same space. The living conditions are not convenient,” PM Abiy elaborated.

He warned that such challenges are contributing to the steady migration of young people from rural areas to cities.

“Particularly, the youth are leaving rural areas. If this continues, the agricultural sector will gradually be weakened, and the countryside will be left without successors,” he cautioned, adding that an aging rural population combined with youth outmigration poses a long-term threat to national development.

Ethiopia has secured $13 billion worth of investment deals, the state investment commission said, after a ​conference aimed at attracting capital into a ‌range of economic sectors.

Like other frontier economies in Africa, the East African nation has been seeking to boost foreign ​direct investment, particularly in manufacturing, to create jobs ​for its growing population. Neighbouring Kenya held a similar ⁠drive last week, announcing deals worth $2.9 billion.

The deals ​signed by Ethiopia at the conference in Addis ​Ababa, which ended on Friday, span “manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing, energy, construction, and other strategic sectors,” the Ethiopia Investment Commission (EIC) said in ​a statement seen by Reuters on Sunday.

They include ​a $150 million project by Sun King to install off-grid solar ‌systems ⁠for homes and businesses over the next five years, the EIC said. China’s Liaoning Fangda Group will invest more than $500 million in steel and pharmaceutical manufacturing ​plants.

Ming Yang Smart ​Energy Group ⁠Limited, a Chinese energy firm, accounted for the largest share of commitments, with ​projects to develop infrastructure in renewable ​energy, hydrogen, ⁠and green ammonia, requiring investments of more than $10 billion, the EIC said.

Ethio Engineering Group has asked its more than 3,000 employees ​to switch to virtual meetings to ‌reduce fuel usage following government guidance to avert a full-blown energy crisis.

Like other countries in the region, ​landlocked Ethiopia faces fuel supply disruptions ​after the eruption of the U.S.-Israel ⁠conflict with Iran. The government in Addis ​Ababa has responded by boosting fuel subsidies ​and laying out a set of energy-saving measures.

“Our government has set a direction stating that institutions ​and citizens must use fuel economically, ​and everyone is carrying out activities based on their ‌specific ⁠realities,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.

“These actions are expected under these mandatory circumstances.”

Apart from virtual meetings, employees ​of the group ​will ⁠be required to pool transport when travelling for vital projects, the ​group said, and restrict movement ​of ⁠vehicles to regular working days only.

The group, which produces a range of products from ⁠plastic ​packaging to farm machinery, ​will also cut monthly fuel allocations to its senior executives.