Ethiopia’s total road coverage has reached 120,000 km, said Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, minister of transport of Ethiopia, attributing the success to the huge investment on road infrastructure in the past 25 years.
“Two decades ago, the total road network expansion in the country was not more than 18,000km. But now the coverage jumped to 120,000 km,” the minster told FBC yesterday.
According to Dr Workneh, the road coverage in rural areas, which was not more than 10 percent 25 years ago, moved up to 70 percent.
This, according to the minister, helped farmers to get agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and select seeds on time and within their reach.
Moreover, road network expansion in rural areas contributed productivity and trade activities to increase as well as health, education and other social institutions to expand, the minister said.
The road infrastructure also allowed local contractors to benefit from technology transfer and acquire experience in road construction and management, he said.
More than 90 contractors who are capable of competing to execute overseas projects were created, the minister added.
According to Dr Workneh, problems in design, management and delay in the execution of road projects were some of the challenges faced the sector over the past 25 years.
Dr Workneh indicated that his ministry is designing a strategy to tackle these problems and to sustain the economic growth of the country by modernizing the road network.
In a related development, the minister said works are underway to make Ethiopia a hub for air transport.
The expansion and construction of airports is underway in various parts of the country and at huge investment areas to facilitate the direct delivery of export products to the global market, Dr Workneh said.
The activities carried out in the past let Ethiopia’s air transport to become the leading and preferable airlines worldwide, he said, adding plans are in the pipeline to make Ethiopia the leading country in the aviation industry.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of the few top airlines with flights to the U.S, thus showing the due attention given by the country for aviation safety, he said.
In order to maintain the reputation of the Airlines and enable it to remain competitive at the global market, the expansion and construction of existing and new airports is underway, he said, citing the Bole International Airport expansion project as a case in point.
Once completed, the expansion project being executed at a cost of 300 million US dollars will enable the airlines to accommodate 22 million passengers per annum, he said.
At present, the country owns 21 airports and there is a plan to build additional airports which could accommodate up to 100 million passengers annually, he said.
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