This archive report was first published on 17 December 2019.
On December 17, 2019, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a Sh38 billion credit line for Kenya to construct a road linking Mombasa to Tanzania's coastal town of Bagamoyo.
The funding will support Phase 1 of the Mombasa-Lunga Lunga/Horohoro and Tanga-Pangani-Bagamoyo roads, representing 78 per cent of the total Sh44.7 billion project cost.
AfDB considers the road a key component of the East African transport corridors network, connecting Kenya and Tanzania with linkages for neighboring countries in the region.
According to Hussein Iman, AfDB's regional sector manager for infrastructure, private sector, and industrialisation, the project will have spillover benefits for hinterland countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan that depend on Mombasa as a gateway to global markets.
The project aims to boost regional integration by reducing transit times, facilitating trade, and cross-border movement of people, as well as unlocking the region's tourist attractions.
The road will also link the ports of Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Mombasa, and stimulate the blue economy in coastal areas.
Phase 1 of the funding involves the construction of 175 kilometers of road sections, including the 121km Mkanga-Pangani road section in Tanzania and the 54km Mombasa-Kilifi road section in Kenya.
The European Union has also committed a Sh3 billion grant representing 7.7 per cent of the total project cost to the Government of Kenya.
