China firm awarded Ethiopia roads contracts

The China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has been awarded two contracts worth US$131m by the Ethiopian Roads Authority. The contracts will see them set up two roads along the Omo River.

One of the contracts, worth US$56m, will ensure construction of a road from Omo to the Omo Kuraz Sugar Factory junction. The road will be 41.7km long. In this phase, a 200-m bridge, six 30-m-long bridges, 83 drainage systems and a carriageway 10 m in width, will also be constructed.

The other US$75-m contract will involve building a road from Omo Sugar Factory No.6 Junction to the Factory No.4 Junction, and will be 60.6 km long. The road will be 10 m wide, and will incorporate 157 small bridges and 171 drainage systems.

The project comes at a time when the Ethiopian Government is constructing seven sugar factories in the Omo area. The objective of the project is to provide free movement of sugar from the factories, as well as livestock and agricultural products from the area, to other parts of the country.