The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved loans worth a total of US$250.95 million for road construction projects in Tanzania and Sierra Leone
A major portion of the funds, $216.87mn, will finance the second phase of Tanzania’s Road Sector Support Project.
The project, estimated to cost in the region of $330mn, comprises upgrades and further construction on the Dodoma-Babati, Tunduru-Mangaka and Mangaka-Mtambaswala roads, covering 390km in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
The ADF (African Development Fund), the bank group’s concessional support window, will provide the loans for the project, which will be co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Tanzanian government.
AfDB head Donald Kaberuka said he expected total infrastructure spending on the continent to rise from the $42 billion invested last year.
The bank group will lend $34.08mn to Sierra Leone for the Matotoka-Sefadu Road Rehabilitation project in the central-eastern part of the country, which is estimated to cost $46.13mn.
The funding comprises an $18.59mn grant from its Fragile States Facility, a $10.56mn ADF grant and a $4.93mn ADF loan.
The OPEC Fund for International Development and Sierra Leone’s government will contribute the remaining amount for the project.
In the recent years rapid economic growth rates across the continent have caused an explosion in the demand for basic infrastructure.
