The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two loans totalling US$232.5mn for a 157.5km road project that will stretch from Arusha to Holili in Tanzania and Taveta to Voi in Kenya
Kenya will receive US$113.12mn of the two loans approved by the AfDB board, while Tanzania will be awarded US$120mn. The bank facility will constitute 89.1 per cent of the total project cost.
The project, which is expected to be completed by December 2018, will also be jointly financed by the governments of Kenya and Tanzania both contributing US$5.6mn and US$12.3mn, respectively. The Africa Trade Fund has extended financial help for a small component for trade facilitation at the Namanga border.
The Arusha-Holili and Taveta-Voi Road will be a transport corridor of the East African Region linking the Northern Corridor at Voi to the Central Corridor across the common border at Holili/Taveta through Arusha, Babati to Dodoma and Singida.
AfDB regional director for the East Africa Resource Centre, Gabriel Negatu confirmed the loan approval, saying that the roads had been identified in the East African Regional Integration Strategy Paper and the East African Transport Strategy and Regional Road Sector Development Programme of November 2011 as a priority for intervention.
“The East African Community seeks to improve regional transport infrastructure to support economic and social development programs in the region, promote tourism and foster regional integration,” Negatu added.
