The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that the construction of the 460km transnational highway between Kenya and Tanzania will begin early next year and that the funding for the road is expected to be approved in September. The highway will cost approximately $751 million (Sh75.1 billion).
The highway will run through Malindi, Mombasa and Lunga Lunga on the Kenyan side and Horohoro, Tanga and Bagamoyo on the Tanzanian side.
AfDB will finance 70 per cent of the coastal highway while the governments of Kenya and Tanzania will cover the remaining 30 per cent.
Speaking during the Kenya roadshow for the upcoming second edition of the Africa Investment Forum, Gabriel Negatu, East Africa Director General of AfDB added that the both the Kenya and Tanzania governments had finalized plans to pave the way for the construction of the coastal highway.
AfDB has been an important player in the EAC infrastructure sector, it funded the construction of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road, which was completed in 2012, and the Arusha-Holili-Taveta-Voi road.
The deal to construct the roads was sealed in 2016, and both Presidents agreed to construct the road to ease movements of goods and subsequently develop the economy of the two nations.
The highway is expected to ease the trade tensions between the two nations which have been signified by the seizing and auctioning of heads of cattle that had crossed over, burning alive about 6,500 day-old chicks by the Tanzanian Government and the creation of unnecessary trade barriers among others.
