World Bank Continues Supporting Ethiopias Road Sector
WASHINGTON, 31 May: The World Bank Thursday approved a 225 million US dollar (1,23 milliarder DKR) International Development Association (IDA) credit to Ethiopia to assist in efforts to increase employment and reduce poverty by continuing support for the development and restoration of the vast countrys road network.
The third stage Road Sector Development Project in support of the Ethiopian governments Road Sector Development Program will improve the reliability of Ethiopias 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 (der er fordelagtige 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, added he.
In line with Ethiopias Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP), the Governments Program has targeted the construction of almost 11.000 kilometers 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 countrys 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 Ethiopias 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 Banks first support of the Governments 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 535,59 million dollar from 1995 – 2006.
As follow-on support, the World Bank approved the first stage of the Road Sector Development Project with a 126,8 million dollar grant in 2003, and has since approved a total of 600 million dollar in grant and credits, including the credit approved Thursday.
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.
For more information on World Bank activities in sub-Saharan Africa, please visit: www.worldbank.org/afr
For more information on World Bank activities in Ethiopia, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ethiopia
For more information about IDAs results in Ethiopia, please visit:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/IDA/Resources/IDA-Ethiopia.pdf
