The Ethiopian Highway Administration has signed a contract worth 453.6 million U.S. dollars to undertake 8 highway projects in the next 4 years, covering 738.19 kilometers of Ethiopia.

The federal government is expected to bear the cost of seven of the eight road projects in Ethiopia. The remaining projects are expected to be funded by this specific project, which is believed to be the Jimma-Chita road project.

The administration has signed contracts for a total of 21 road projects, including 8 projects, and allocated more than US$1.2 billion. The entire project is expected to exceed 1,774 kilometers.

Of the 21 highway projects, 14 were shared by local contractors. The federal government is expected to fund 20 projects.

Road development in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government recognizes the importance of road transport in supporting social and economic growth and its role as a catalyst for achieving poverty reduction goals, and therefore pays more attention to improving the quality and extent of the country’s road infrastructure.

In order to solve the road sector restrictions related to the limited coverage and poor condition of the road network, the government formulated the Road Sector Development Plan in 1997. In 1997, the road network has increased to 26,550 kilometers, of which 3,708 kilometers have been paved. Then, due to investments made in the three phases of the Road Sector Development Plan in the past 13 years, the total length of the network has increased to 49,000 kilometers. According to the 13-year performance evaluation document of the road sector development plan, of the total network, 22,247 kilometers are federal networks, and the remaining 26,753 kilometers are regional networks.

The condition of the road network has also improved. Currently, almost 55% of classified road networks are in good condition, 26% are in good condition, and the remaining 19% are in poor condition.Editor/Huang Lijun