Tunisia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed, on Monday in Tunis, a loan agreement for a total amount of 103.95 million Euros (the equivalent of 335 million Dinars) for the financing of the second phase of the Road Infrastructure Modernization Project (PMIR-II).
It is a question of rehabilitating 230.6 km of classified roads distributed in the governorates of Siliana, Kasserine, Kairouan, Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa, in addition to the development of 2×2 lanes of the Enfidha-Kairouan road, indicated the Minister of Equipment and Housing, Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri, during the signing ceremony of this agreement, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy.
According to the Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Said, the investments planned within the framework of this project will make it possible both to contribute to reducing regional disparities by concentrating a large part of the operations in the disadvantaged governorates and also to remove the constraints of pavement clearance.
The objective is to respond to the evolution of traffic, ensure better mobility of users on the classified road network and promote an efficient, inclusive and sustainable transport system serving to intensify intra and inter-regional trade.
He said, in this context, that the modernization of infrastructure will occupy a special place in the development plan (2023/2026) which is currently being prepared.
This project, he added, represents the second phase of a comprehensive road infrastructure modernization program launched in 2016, with a total cost of 219.35 million euros.
According to the Minister, the first phase of this program which is currently being implemented with a physical execution rate of 80%, will be completed at the end of this year.
Phase I of this program, he further recalled, targeted the rehabilitation of 719 km of classified roads in 21 Governorates and the creation of 2,602 permanent jobs.
The modernization program will contribute to the creation of 204 micro-enterprises, with 92 beneficiaries for phase I and 112 participants for phase II.
Speaking on this occasion, the Director-General of the AfDB Regional Office for North Africa, Mohamed El Azizi, indicated that the transport sector is among the most important sectors in terms of cooperation with Tunisia, specifying that his institution has succeeded, during the last decade, in modernizing more than 70% of the Tunisian classified road network for an amount of 1.2 billion dollars.
He also indicated that the AfDB plans to provide further support to road sector reforms and to diversify its future actions to target other transport sub-sectors; such as urban, rail and maritime.
The official has, in this sense, let it be known that a team of experts from the ADB will visit, during the next few days, in order to identify the projects to be implemented within the next few years.
