World Bank Continues Supporting Ethiopia's Road Sector

US$225 million approved for the third Road Sector Development Project

 (1 June 2007)

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors 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 today.