OREANDA-NEWS. On May 15, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a grant agreement (G/A) with the Government of the Republic of Djibouti to provide grant aid of up to 1.239 billion yen for the Project for Improvement of Road Management Equipment.

This project will provide road construction, maintenance and management equipment to the Djibouti Agency of Roads of the Ministry of Equipment and Transport,* and thus improve the function and the capacity for maintaining and managing roads.

Due to factors such as effects from the high rate of economic growth in neighboring Ethiopia which uses the Port of Djibouti for exports, Djibouti has advanced a number of large-scale infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new port and expanding the railroad network. Those infrastructure projects and the overland transportation means for goods distribution rely on road transportation, but the trunk roads in Djibouti are deteriorating due to the rapidly increasing amount of traffic. Moreover, the Djibouti City roads have not been maintained or managed adequately due to the inadequate small equipment available for road construction, maintenance and management, and the worsening state of urban roads has become a problem that adversely affects the lives of residents in such ways as destabilized bus operations and the occurrence of dust.

This project will provide road management equipment to the regional maintenance and management bases of the Djibouti Agency of Roads in three cities, including Djibouti City, encouraging the maintenance of trunk roads and city bus routes, and contributing to the stability and convenience of transportation. This project will also provide technical guidance for road construction and maintenance of the equipment and spare parts. In terms of both human capacity and physical equipment, this assistance is expected to strengthen the road maintenance capacity of the Djibouti Agency of Roads, make overland traffic smoother, and thereby contribute to sustainable economic development in Djibouti.