The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US $140.6mn loan for the Kingdom of Eswatini to improve road links between the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions.
- The road infrastructure investment will enable upgrading of 105.9 km of paved roads.
- The loan will be used to upgrade the Siphofaneni-Sithobelath-Maloma-Nsoko (MR14) and Maloma-Siphambanweni (MR21) to a width of 12.3 metres, including 2-metre paved shoulders on each side.
- Since AfDB begun operations in the country in 1972, Mbabane has received loans of more than US$ 800mn from the regional multilateral lender.
“Above all, the project will contribute to poverty reduction by creating well-paid jobs for young people in economically disadvantaged regions such as Lubombo and Shilselweni,” Moono Mupotola, the Bank’s Country Manager for Eswatini said.
The kingdom has a relatively small road network, with under 4, 000km of roads in total, of which approximately 1, 500km are paved and 2, 270kms are unpaved district roads. Car ownership is also relatively low, at just 89 vehicles per 1, 000 people according to data from 2014.
