Ethiopia secures grant for $255m highway

The money is for the first phase of the Ethiopia–Djibouti Road Transport Corridor project. The agreement was signed by Ethiopia’s minister of finance Ahmed Shide and the African Development Bank Group’s country manager in Ethiopia, Abdul Kamara.

The project consists of the construction of the first 60 km of a four-lane expressway section of the 126km stretch from Adama to Awash and includes the design of a border post at Dewele.

The total cost of the project is US$255 million, comprising the grant of US$98m from the African Development Fund (ADF) to the government of Ethiopia, an ADF grant of US$5.3m to the government of Djibouti and a co-financing contribution of US$151m by the government of Ethiopia.

The project will kick off next year and be implemented over a five-year period. The ADF grant to land-locked Ethiopia’s road transport sector is part of the Bank’s efforts to boost regional integration and connectivity, especially access to seaports.

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