AfDB loans Kenya Sh12b for new road

NAIROBI, Tuesday

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will lend Kenya Sh12.5 billion ($166.4 million) to build a road connecting the country with Ethiopia, officials said have said.

The new 123 km route is designed to open up remote regions of Kenya’s north that have been isolated from the rest of the country, as well as encourage regional trade.

"(The project) is aimed at improving the socio-economic situation of the people in the regions through which it will pass," Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said, adding that water wells would be drilled in communities along the route.

"The road will open up a vast territory ... (and) will greatly improve the flow of trade."

"No good road connects the countries. The current route cannot be used in all weather conditions and is in a very bad state," said Uhuru. The new road will enter Ethiopia at Moyale. The Tunis-based AfDB has committed Sh140 billion to various Kenyan development programmes.

—Reuters