Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Sudan Tribune) — The World bank On Tuesday approved a new credit of $245 million for Ethiopia to support Addis Ababa effort to restore and expand the country’s road network.

The credit is the fourth phase of a program, implemented by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA), designed to build, maintain, and improve national roads in the Ethiopia.

The US$ 245 million credit will finance the construction of three roads and to strengthen and build the ERA institutional capacity as well as to identify maintenance needs and required funding arrangement for the coming 5 to 10 years.

Three federal roads “Mekenajo-Dembi Dolo Link Road (181 km), Welkite-Hosaina Link Road (121 km), and Ankober-AwashArba Link Road (89 km) will be upgraded from earth/gravel to asphalt,” said the World Bank.

The Program was launched with donor support to create adequate capacity in the road sector, and to facilitate the economic recovery process by restoring the condition and expanding the essential road network.

Twelve years since the launch of road development program, Ethiopia has made remarkable achievements in physical, organizational, social, and financial terms, said the World Bank.

Ethiopia in 1997, launched a 10-year Road Sector Development Program in 2 phases — Phase I and II: 1997-2007, now extended to 2010 as Phase III — to address the limited coverage and poor state of the road network, as well as, the growing transport needs of the country.