AfDB approves $1.2 mln grant to finance feasibility study for Ethiopia-Sudan railway link
JOHANNESBURG, June 10 (ANA) – The African Development Bank has approved a $1.2 million grant to Ethiopia’s government to finance a feasibility study for construction of a standard-gauge railway link with neighbouring Sudan.
In a statement on Tuesday, the AfDB said the grant from its concessional-rate lending arm the African Development Fund would cover 35 percent of the total estimated cost of $3.4 million for the study.
The remaining funding will be provided by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility in the form of a $2 million grant and by a contribution of $100,000 each from the two countries.
The two-year comprehensive feasibility study will assess the proposed project’s technical, economic, environmental and social viability, as well as alternative financing arrangements, including a public-private partnership.
The railway line will link Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to Sudan’s Khartoum in Sudan, with an extension to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The route stretches 1,522 kilometres between Addis Ababa and Port Sudan.
Officials say the absence of a regional arterial route linking Ethiopia, Sudan and other countries in the Horn of Africa has been a deterrent to trade, development and regional integration. The movement of goods and people between Sudan and Ethiopia often requires the use of several modes of transport, raising costs.
The AfDB said the project was aligned with its country strategy paper on Ethiopia and the long-term development goals of Sudan’s government as set out in its national 25-year strategy.
It also satisfies some of the bank’s strategic priorities, namely Integrate Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, and a drive to improve the quality of life for the continent’s people.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa