The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) and contractors have signed a US $483.1m agreement to upgrade various roads across the country from gravel to asphalt as part of the Second Growth and Transformation Plan.
According to Authority Communication Directorate Director Samson Wondimu, the upgrading of the roads will be conducted on eight national road projects. The projects cover 749.37 km and are mainly implemented in Amhara, Somali, Oromia, SNNPs and Benisangul Gumuz states.
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Social economic relationship
Upon completion, the construction of these projects will ease traffic flow at national level and will also strengthen socioeconomic relationships between various communities within and among the states.
Indicating that the full project cost is covered by the Ethiopian government, he said the project is expected to create a significant amount of jobs for citizens.
The authority is also working with a focus to enhance the number of local consultants and contractors and four of the contractors that are part of the agreement are local.
About Ethiopian Road Authority
The Ethiopian Roads Authority has been reestablished under proclamation 133/1978 incorporating, among others, the Rural Roads Department in addition to the Highway Department. The Ministry of Transport and Communication turned out to be the supervising authority of ERA.
In 1980, the Military Government that took power in 1974 reformed the agency into the Ethiopian Transport Construction Authority (ETCA) by proclamation No. 189/1980 and became answerable to the newly formed Ministry of Construction. The proclamation enlarged responsibility of the Authority by expanding its task to incorporate the construction of Airports, Seaports, Railways, and Municipal Roads.