The Board of Directors, African Development Bank (AfDB), has approved a loan of 115 million dollars to support a major road reconstruction project in Abia State, Nigeria.
This was revealed in a statement made available by the Nigeria Country Department of the bank on Saturday, July 1, in Abuja.
It noted that the project would see to the rehabilitation of roads, erosion control infrastructure and preparation of solid waste management facilities in Umuahia the Abia state capital and the commercial hub, Aba.
”Financing for the project estimated at a total cost of 263.80 million dollars, will come through an AfDB loan of 100 million dollars.
”A Canada–AfDB Climate Fund (CACF) loan of 15 million dollars; and a 125 million dollars co-financing loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
”The Abia State government will provide 23.80 million dollars in counterpart funding for compensation to people affected by the project and implementation of a Resettlement Action Plan,” it stressed.
According to the statement, the project, which is expected to be completed in 2029, has a total of 248.46 km of road.
It said it had 58.03 km of roads in Umuahia and 190.43 km of roads in Aba which would be rehabilitated to asphaltic concrete standards at varying cross sections.
”The project will also include capacity building, project management and development of social infrastructure.
”This includes the rehabilitation of schools and the provision of sanitation facilities in schools, community markets and hospitals.”
It said with an estimated population of 553,000 and 814,000 respectively (2022 estimates), Umuahia and Aba, the commercial hub, were currently facing serious infrastructure challenges.
In addition, ”The project will also create 3,000 temporary jobs (30 per cent for women) at the construction phase, and about 1,000 permanent jobs during the operational phase.
”The permanent jobs will particularly benefit the youths, who will make up 50 percent of the project.
Mr Lamin Barrow, the Director-General of AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, said the project would build resilience by providing the towns access to urban infrastructure services, including economic and social amenities.
