Nigeria is set to receive US $70m from the African Development Bank(AfDB) as part of financing of the US $167.66m 198-kilometre (km) Ebonyi Ring Road project envisioned to spur the country integration with other African countries.
Nigerian Country Senior Director and West African Bank Group of the AfDB, Mr. Ebrina Fall, disclosed the reports and said that Nigerian Federal Executive Council (FEC) has cleared the credit approval last May. This resulted to the bank concluding arrangement to commence disbursement before the end of the third quarter of 2019.
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Ebonyi’s Ring Road project is also being financed by the Islamic Development Bank, as well as the Ebonyi State Government. While the project is a state initiative designed to link eight of the 13 local councils in Ebonyi State, it has strategic regional dimensions as it crosses the Enugu-Bamenda Road corridor at two points, thereby providing residents in its zone of influence with easier access to Cameroun.
The development slated for completion in 2024 and has pushed the AfDB’s portfolio to around US $8bn. The project also intends to rehabilitate 177.81km of existing bituminous roads,”
“The bank continues to focus on improving the institutional framework for the co-ordination and management of regional projects through capacity support from ECOWAS and other regional specialized institutions. It is committed to accelerating Africa’s integration process. In the last five years the Bank has invested more than US $15bn in the construction of regional infrastructure in energy, transport and ICT,” said Mr. Ebrina.
Some of these projects embarked on include a US $93.8m loan for the long-awaited Trans-Gambia bridge linking the Gambia and Senegal, resulting in a 50% cut in freight costs and improved transport, health and education services for 900,000 local people.
