Ethiopia - Modjo-Hawassa Highway Project – Phase 1

The Modjo – Hawassa Highway Project (Phase I) is within the broad five-year Road Sector Development Program – RSDP-IV (2011-15) program in Ethiopia. The RSDP is an ambitious program intended to enhance road transport service throughout the country, through upgrading and road maintenance as well as build domestic contracting capacity. The current Modjo – Hawassa road is a dilapidated single 2-lane carriageway that has already served its design life and requires upgrading. The road section forms a link within the Cape Town to Cairo road corridor connecting southern, eastern and northern Africa. The current capacity is insufficient to cater for the growing traffic demands, including international heavy traffic. The Modjo – Hawassa Highway Project (209km) will be implemented in two phases. Phase I consists of the construction of 93 km of a new asphalt surfaced 4-lane dual carriageway road between Modjo and Zeway towns. Furthermore the Modjo- Hawassa highway lies mostly in Oromia Region and is part of the major Mombasa- Nairobi-Addis Ababa highway. This project is therefore a logical continuation of this transport expansion program and when completed in 2019, it will provide a wide range of socio-economic benefits, supporting national and regional trade. It will be implemented in 5 years.