The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) board in Abidjan approved of the US$384.22m financing package for road construction support for the Mombasa-Lunga Lunga/Horohoro and Tanga-Pangani-Bagamoyo roads Phase I (Kenya to Tanzania). It is in the form of the African Development Bank and African Development Fund loans and represents 78.5 per cent of the total US$445.14mn project cost. Previously, the European Union contributed a grant of US$33.41mn, 7.7 per cent of the total project cost, to the government of Kenya.
The Bank’s support also provides roadside trading facilitates for sellers, most of whom are women who currently operate in disorganized and unsafe conditions.
Also read Kenya, Tanzania to construct a road linking Malindi and Bagamoyo.
Plans for the road
The Mombasa-Lunga Lunga/Horohoro and Tanga-Pangani-Bagamoyo road is a major component of the East African transport corridors network, connecting Kenya and Tanzania. Manufacturers, producers and traders will be able to move goods more quickly and cheaply. Additionally, farmers and fishermen will benefit from improved access to local and regional markets and amenities, including better schools and health centres. Hussein Iman, the Bank’s regional sector manager for infrastructure, private sector, and industrialisation said, “The project will have spillover benefits for hinterland countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan that depend on Mombasa as a gateway to global markets.”
This first phase will involve the construction of 175 km of road sections: the 121 km Mkanga-Pangani road section in Tanzania and the 54 km Mombasa-Kilifi road section in Kenya.
in light of the road crossing regions with high rates of unemployment, the project includes a vocational training component for 500 unemployed youth to acquire marketable skill and improve their economic prospects. The intervention is a priority item in the Bank’s Eastern Africa Regional Integration Strategy (EA-RISP), the Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) of both countries and aligns with two of the Bank’s High 5 priorities – Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
