World Bank approves $225 mln to support Ethiopia’s road network
June 1, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors yesterday approved a US$225 million International Development Association (IDA) credit to the Government of Ethiopia to assist in efforts to increase employment and
reduce poverty by continuing support for the development and restoration of the
country’s road network.
The third stage Road Sector Development Project in support of Government’s Road
Sector Development Program will improve the reliability of Ethiopia’s road
transport infrastructure by expanding and maintaining the road network, and
strengthening the institutional capacity in quality and efficiency of road
construction, management and maintenance. The project will also create
conditions conducive for the domestic construction industry to develop in the
road transport sector.
“The emphasis will be on facilitating growth, in both the agriculture and
industrial sectors, by improving transport corridors as well as better linking
emerging regions to the rest of the mountainous country,” said Yoshimichi
Kawasumi, World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “The enhanced
infrastructure country-wide will, in a socially and environmentally sustainable
manner, create trade and job opportunities, enhance private sector
participation, and strengthen capacity of the road sector in providing service
delivery in an efficient and decentralized manner.”
In line with Ethiopia’s Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End
Poverty (PASDEP), the Government’s Program has targeted the construction of
almost 11,000 kilometers (km) of new federal roads and 5,500 km of new regional
roads, and maintenance of over 4,000 km of federal and regional roads. The
land-locked country’s road network has been estimated (end 2006) at 39,477 km,
of which about 19,313 km are federal roads and 20,164 regional roads.
In the Government of Ethiopia’s poverty reduction strategy, the road sector has
been given a high priority, and improvements in rural infrastructure, and links
to and along major import-export routes, were identified to be crucial. The
World Bank’s first support of the Government’s Program started with Road Sector
Development Program Support Project approved in 1998. Along with the Road
Rehabilitation Project and Emergency Recovery Project, the total contribution
mounted to US$535.59 million from 1995 – 2006.
As follow-on support, the World Bank approved the first stage of the Road
Sector Development Project with a US$126.8 million grant in 2003, and has since
approved a total of US$600 million in grant and credits, including the credit
approved on Thursday May 31.
The third stage Road Sector Development Project supports the
construction/rehabilitation of 509 km of trunk and link roads, 70 km of
regional roads; and provides various technical advisory services, studies and
capacity building.
(ST)