Monday 8 December 2014

Ethiopia-link Road Set for Completion in 2015

Tarmacking of the main road linking Kenya with Ethiopia is expected to be completed by end of next year according to Marsabit governor Ukur Yattani. The 505km Isiolo-Marsabit-Moyale road is 60 per cent complete and work is progressing well.


Mr Yattani, whose county occupies 15 per cent of Kenya’s land mass said that Construction is ongoing and by the end of next year, Addis Ababa will be connected to Nairobi on tarmac road, which will change the economy of this place,


The road is expected to cost Sh46 billion and is funded by the African Development Bank, the European Union and the national government. The governor said the road would ease travel to Nairobi, which used to take four days but has since been reduced to one day.

The project has several facilities like new Petrol stations which are coming up. There are also lodges, cottages, banks and other institutions. The road will be a game changer. The project was initiated by former President Mwai Kibaki in 2007.

The Project will open competition and people are encouraged to go and create jobs to the people of Marsabit .

As part of monitoring, Laisamis MP Joseph Lekuton said he was happy with the work done on the road. Already, the Isiolo-Merille road, which is part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor is complete.

Construction of the remaining phases between Merille River bridge and Marsabit town, and between Marsabit and Moyale town, which is estimated to cost Sh10 billion, is going on.

The road will link Mombasa to the proposed second port in Lamu then to Ethiopia. It aims at reducing transport and shipping costs between Kenya and Ethiopia, reducing transit time for imports and exports and increasing the volume of Ethiopian goods transiting through Mombasa port.

The project will also promote trade and regional integration, increase intra-regional trade between Ethiopia and Kenya as well as with the eastern and Horn of Africa regions.

In terms of trade and regional integration, the project area extends beyond Kenya and Ethiopia to include Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

Source; Business Daily

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