Ethiopia road contract awarded

Work on a major road project now looks set to commence shortly in Ethiopia. The US$221.7 million project will be carried out by a joint venture comprising Indian contractor 3148 IL&FS Transportation Networks (IL&FS) and its fully-owned Spanish arm Elsamex. The new highway is for an 84.56km route connecting Agamsa-Bure as well as an 86.1km stretch from Nekempte-Anger Gutin-Andhode. Financing for the work is being supplied by the World Bank and the work is expected to take eight years to complete. IL&FS won the package of works on an output and performance based road contract (OPRC) basis. The joint venture was awarded the deal by the Ethiopian Roads Authority for management and maintenance services, improvement works and design.