Fekade Haile (center) general manager of the Addis Abeba City Roads Authority chats with Gebrehiwot Ekobemariam, general manager of Gebrehiwot General Contractor , at the signing ceremony, while Menashe Levy general manager of Tidhar Excavation & Earthmoving Ltd observe them in silence.

The Addis Abeba City Roads Authority (AACRA) awarded two road construction contracts and a design and consultancy contract for a total of 326.8 million Br.

A 2.8km-long, 30 metre-wide road from Abune Petros to Pasteur was awarded to Tidhar Excavation & Earthmoving Ltd, a locally registered Israeli company, for 144.4 million Br. The company had registered a capital of 100 million Br when established six years ago as a local company.

Tidhar beat Satcon Construction and Varnero Construtori, which had offered 174.7 million Br and 171.7 million Br, respectively.

This road, most of which is known as Arbegnoch Street and the rest Swaziland Street, passes from Abune Petros to Mastawekia to Yohannes to Enkulal Fabrica to Pasteur, where the road construction is to terminate.

The other road from Goro Roundabout to the ICT Park, has been awarded to Gebrehiwot General Contractor for 179.4 million Br. This firm beat six other bidders for the contract, including Enyi Construction with an offer of 249.8 million Br, Macro Contractors with 321.2 million Br, and Flower Construction with 205.6 million Br.

This road, which will be 3.2km long and 30 metres wide, is to be upgraded to facilitate access to the ICT Park, located in Yerer area in Bole District on the outskirts of the capital. It is Gebrehiwot's first contract with the AACRA.

The winners of both contracts had offered the lowest prices in their categories.

The construction of the two roads is to be completed within 540 days of the signing of the contracts at the AACRA's headquarters, located on Roosevelt Street.

The ACCRA has also signed its third design and supervision contract, worth three million Birr, with Omega Consulting Engineers (OCE) for five roads with a total length of 11km to be constructed over the next five years. This contract includes the Akaki Bridge to Timket Bahir Kilinto, Kality Yeduro Kella to Sallo Giorgis, Lafto to Hana Mariam Road, and Jemmo Ring Road Roundabout to Adey Abeba Textile Factory and Worku Sefer Industry Area roads. These roads will be financed by the AACRA's budget from the City Administration.

Addis Abeba's road coverage reached 3,558km by the end of 2011, of which 1,687km were gravel and the rest asphalt, growing by 137pc since 1998 when the AACRA was re-established. The plan is to increase the coverage to 15pc by the end of 2013/14 from the current 13pc.