World Bank has announced last week giving US $73.6m for rehabilitation of roads and bridges in Mozambique
The Executive Board of Directors for World Bank has approved additional funds estimated to be US $73.6m to support the management and preservation of roads and bridges in Mozambique.
According to the World Bank, the loan will also fill the financial gap for road rehabilitation related to floods in Southern Gaza Province, after flooding of the Limpopo River Basin in 2013. The organization noted it was pleased to support the country in classified road rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance in order to improve access.
World Bank further noted that after the 2013 flooding in the area, over 2200 kilometers of roads – constituting of more than 70% of the roads in the area – were damaged, making the cost to be US $183m. World Bank had initially given out 70.15m to the Mozambican Government in 2013.
The flooding of the roads resulted in isolation of rural communities. This resulted in difficult access to markets, transportation and other basic services.
Team leader for the bridges and road rehabilitation project, Kulwinder Singh Rao, noted that easy access to amenities after rehabilitation of the roads will help cut down on transportation costs, lower poverty levels and inflation risks.
The World Bank further noted that the main purpose of the project for Roads and Bridges Management Maintenance Program was to reduce poverty by improving infrastructure, improving policies and management in the roads sector.
The country is also carrying out road rehabilitation on N303 road at a cost of US $350m, a project in which Louis Berger was recently appointed as a consultant. This road project targeted at converting 350km from Tete province and ending at the Zambezi River into a modern road. The project targeted at improving coal mining dependent local economy.
