The World Bank on Friday approved a 87.3 million U.S. dollar credit to support Ethiopia's continued effort to restore and expand the country's road network.

The credit, which supports Ethiopia's road sector development program, "seeks to increase the road transport infrastructure and improve its reliability; strengthen the capacity for road construction, management and maintenance; and create conditions conducive to private sector participation in the road transport sector," according to a news release from the World Bank.

In addition, the road network density would increase with the construction of additional roads, where limited or no access existed, said the news release.

In 1997, Ethiopia launched a 10-year road sector development program to address the limited coverage and poor state of the road network, as well as the growing transport needs of the country.

With the completion of the first phase of this program at the end of June 2002, Ethiopia embarked on the second phase (2002-2007) , which is designed to continue the process of institutional reform and the rehabilitation of major roads but also to address the travel and transport needs of the rural population.

The credit is provided on standard International Development Association (IDA) terms, with a commitment fee of 0.35 percent, a service charge of 0.75 percent over a 40-year period of maturity which includes a 10-year grace period.

Source: Xinhua