Finance & Funding

France has increased its annual national-road modernisation fund by 25% to €1 billion for starting next year. French Transport Minister Élisabeth Borne made the announcement, pointing out that the country’s roads in the worst condition will get priority. Also, starting in 2022, roads will be reviewed every five years under a new scoring system to determine which are in most need of repairs and modernisation. Borne noted that she wanted to speed up improvement works on routes serving mid-sized cities.

The Czech division of Eurovia has won a €126 million contract for a section of the D35 motorway. The Czech road and motorway management company RSD sealed the deal Eurovia, part of the Vinci Group, for construction of 14.7km between Casy and Ostrov, in the Pardubice region. Eurovia submitted a bid of nearly €126 million for the work that the government and the European Union had estimated in 2016 might cost around €194 million. Other bids had been submitted by M-Silnice and Astaldi. Eurovia recently an

Recent heavy rains in Kenya have caused extensive damage to the road network, washing away road surfaces and signage and causing scouring of bridges. As much as US$180 million may be required to carry out the necessary repairs to the road network. Nairobi and its surrounding area have been particularly badly hit. The city’s central business district and various industrial areas are key to the country’s economy and have suffered extensive damage to various road sections, so repairing these areas is seen as a

Financing from China is helping pay for a series of major infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

The Australian state of Queensland is setting out major plans for infrastructure development. A budget of US$33.8 billion (A$45 billion) has been set for improvements to transport systems across the state over a four year period. Planned work will include developing new roads and highways as well as road connections.

Plans are being drawn up in Laos for the new highway connecting its capital Vientiane with Hanoi, the capital of neighbouring Vietnam. The project is expected to cost in excess of US$4.5 billion, with much of the Laos section of the route running parallel to the existing Road N0 13 South.

In Rwanda, a US$66 million deal has been signed for construction work on a road running from Base and through Butaro to Kidaho. The 63km stretch road is intended to improve transport connections in the north of the country. The work on this road will boost the country’s connections with neighbouring Uganda, helping develop trade and transport between the two nations.