Ethiopia: $98 Million ADF Loan for Upgrading Jima-Mizan Road

13 December 2006
African Development Bank (Abidjan)

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group will support the Ethiopian government's proposal to upgrade the Jima-Mizan road in the south-western part of the country with a loan of 65 million Units of Account (UA*), equivalent to US$ 98 million approved on Wednesday in Tunis by the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the AfDB Group.

The Jima-Mizan Road Upgrading Project, which covers a distance of 227.18 km, aims at improving transportation services between the towns of Jima and Mizan and facilitating market integration with the rest of the country and abroad. It is expected that improving the efficiency and capacity of the transport system will enhance social and economic development programs in Ethiopia in a sustainable way.

The project consists of: * Construction Works for the upgrading of the gravel surfaced road to Asphalt Concrete standard with a 7.0-m wide carriageway and 1.5-m shoulders on either side from Jima to Mizan (227.18 km). The works will involve: 150mm selected sub-grade material, 200mm natural gravel and 150mm crushed aggregate sub-base, 175mm crushed-aggregate base, and 50-mm thick asphalt concrete wearing course and sealed road shoulders.

* Consultancy Services for supervision of Jima-Mizan road upgrading works; * Consultancy Services for Audit; * Payment of Compensation to people affected by the road project.

The immediate beneficiaries of the project will be the populations living within the project area, especially traders who will gain wider access to markets for their goods. Given the dominance of agricultural activities in the area, farmers will also benefit from the road that will make it more convenient to convey their produce to the markets. The upgraded and all-weather road between Jima and Mizan Teferi forms the main trunk link road for exporting coffee from Keffa. Livestock farmers will also benefit as improved road surface makes it possible to provide extension services to the project area. Other stakeholders who will benefit from the project are landowners, local and district authorities, NGOs and other community-based organizations. There is also the potential of opening up the interior of the project area, with its waterfalls, lakes and hot springs, to local and international tourism.

The project cost estimate is UA 101.53 million (ETB 1270.97 million).

The ADF loan will finance 64.02% of the project. The Ethiopian government will provide the remaining 35.98% of project cost (36.53 million UA).

The AfDB Group began operations in Ethiopia in 1975. The Bank's cumulative commitments in the country currently stand at US$ 2.095 billions in 101 operations.

* 1 UA = 1.50773 US$ = 12.8628 ETB AS at 13/12/2006

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