The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) has signed a US $489.2 m construction agreement of 9 road projects totalling to 749 km across the country.
ERA Director General Araya Girmay, speaking during the contract signing ceremony said that the cost for constructing 9 projects will be covered by the government and once completed will contribute a lot in creating employment opportunity, as well as boosting the growth of the economy and improve people’s livelihood.
Spread over last three years about 7,910 km asphalt roads have been built. This accounts to 2,700 km of roads every year. So far the authority has been undertaking the construction of several road projects to meet the set target plan in the Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II) period whose sole focus was on ensuring the accessibility of road infrastructure in the country.
More projects
Construction of 89 road projects have been completed since the launch of GTP-II, whereas 215 road projects which cover 15,771.9 km in all parts of the country are still under construction. Moreover, the construction of 107 projects with a total length of 6,048 km have already commenced including the current signed projects.
According to the Authority Director, the authority is currently undertaking feasibility study for the construction and maintenance of over 180 road projects.
The Authority calls for all contractors who signed the agreements, to finalize their projects timely and in top quality. Meanwhile, the construction companies have assured that they will work responsibly based on the agreements they made with the authority.