Ethiopia’s Road Network Showing Impressive Growth, Says PM Abiy

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the road network in Ethiopia has reached 165,000 kilometers over the last three years.

While responding to questions posed by members of the House of People’s Representatives today, the premier said the road network in Ethiopia was 127,000 km prior to the reform three years ago.

During the past three years, the total road network in the nation has expanded by 38,000 km.

Regarding concrete asphalt roads, the Ethiopian Roads Authority alone has built more roads than the network built by the country in the last 40 to 50 years, Abiy noted.

According to him, the concrete asphalt road constructed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) was only 13,000 km, but has expanded by additional 4,700 km in the last three and a half years alone.

The government has also been building roads in neglected but fertile areas like Gojjam, Bale, and Wollega, it was learned.

West Gojjam and East Gojjam zones are the most productive areas in the country that produce about 25 percent of Ethiopia’s agricultural products.

Those areas need roads and fertilizer, the premier stressed, adding that with that in mind the government has been building 504 kilometers of concrete asphalt in West Gojjam Zone alone in the last three years alone.

“We are also building concrete asphalt roads from north Gondar to Metema to enhance export,” he stated.

Finally, the prime minister underscored that “all this does not in any way mean that we have done enough in this regard. We are still far away.”

Source: Ethiopia News Agency