Funding found for Ethiopia road project

The World Bank is offering Ethiopia a loan worth US$370 million for the construction of a new expressway. The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) will use the loan to construct the 57km Batu Ziway-Arsi Negele section of the 203km Modjo-Awassa expressway. The loan will be repaid over 38 years with six years of grace period. The Modjo-Awassa expressway has four sections, with the 52km Arsi-Negele section to be funded by China EXIM Bank. Korea EXIM Bank will finance the 37km Meki-Ziway section and the African Development Bank will fund the 57km Mojo-Meki section. The China EXIM Bank is also funding a project to build the Dire Dawa to Djibouti expressway, which is costing around $300 million while CGC Overseas Construction Group is the contractor handling the project.