Major Road to be constructed in Addis Ababa

A major road is to be built from Addis Ababa's central Meskel Square to Bole Airport. The $60 million agreement for the 4.3km long and 40m-wide road has been signed between Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA) and the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) Addis Engineering Plc.

Recently approved by the Ethiopian parliament, the project is to be funded by a 20 million birr loan from the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China, to be repaid over 20 years.

The construction will not affect existing buildings but will involve the removal of some structures such as fences. The six month-task of moving electricity lines, pipes and fibre optic cables to under future pavements has begun and construction of the road will commence on a phase-by-phase basis, with the first section to be the Olympia overpass.

The project has been plagued with problems since it was proposed in 2007. Its construction was originally awarded to local company Enyi Construction in 2008 however the board of AACRA, headed by the city