By Alex Yomah
The Liberian Government and African Development Bank (AFDB) have signed a US$40 million loan agreement for the Mano River Road Development Transport Facilitation Phase 1 project.
The agreement, signed over the weekend, is intended to enhance road infrastructure and boost intra-community trade in the Mano River Union area.
The loan will support the upgrading of 48.5 km of roads in Liberia and 39 km in Sierra Leone to bitumen standard, along with feasibility studies for an additional 97 kilometers of roads in Liberia.
Finance and Development Planning Minister, Boima S. Kamara, signed on behalf of the Liberian Government, while Benedict Sorie Kanu signed on behalf of the AFDB.
It can be recalled that the Bank signed the Road Development and Transport Facilitation program in 2012, under a special initiative to boost the cost-conflict recovery of the Mano River Union area, by improving road infrastructure and promoting intra-community trade.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Finance Minister, Boima S. Kamara, thanked the Bank for the level of support to road infrastructure and other areas of development.
“Today we are signing a loan support from the African Development Bank through the African Development Bank fund to support financing the fourth phase of the road development and Transport Facilitation Program for Sierra and Liberia,” Kamara said.
Minister Kamara said that the approval of the loan by the Bank covers an ADF grant worth US$40 million for Sierra Leone and US$24 million for Liberia, adding that Liberia will also receive an additional US$16 million loan from the Transitional Support Facility (TSF) pillars 1.
Earlier, the AFDB Country Manager to Liberia, Benedict S. Kanu, underscored the timeliness, relevance, and value-added of the program, as it builds on the ongoing phases that is aimed at boosting regional integration and trade in the Mano River Union.
He explained that the project also includes rehabilitating cross-border infrastructure, developing socio-economic facilities, and supporting women and youth associations to promote private enterprise.
Kanu also narrated that the program is expected to create over 2,000 jobs during the construction phase, with a focus on empowering 30 percent women and improving regional integration and trade.
He noted that the program is intended to help improve the standard of the roads connecting Beudu to Koindu in Sierra Leone, linking Liberia and Guinea, and the John Davies Town to Zwedru section on the Fish Town-Zwedru axis in Liberia.
“This signing today will boost the safety and trade of the regional corridor and accessibility and quality of life for local communities’’ he added.
In a statement, the AFDB Country Manager for Sierra Leone, Halima Hashi, indicated that in addition to opening the region, the project will generate many urgently needed jobs for young men and women during the construction and maintenance phases.
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister, Roland L. Giddings, went on to explain how the program is being financed in phases, of which Phase I is near completion, covering Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Guinea, while Phase II will cover Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire, and phase III, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
Minister Giddings noted that on December 14, 2023, the Board of Directors of African Development Fund (ADF), through the AFDB Group, in the city of Abidjan, approved US$80 million to finance IV of the Mano River Union Road development and transport facilitation program (MRU/RDTFP).
