The World Bank is to help in the repair of Mozambique’s main north-south highway.
According to a report by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the first phase of the improvement of the 2,600-kilometre National Road 1 (EN1) will take 10 years and see works carried out over some 1,053 kilometres of the vital artery.
The World Bank has approved a total funding of US$850 million for the project, almost half of which will be used in the first of three phases, the Ministry of Public Works said.
[See more: The world’s ‘longest lived cyclone’ is continuing to threaten Mozambique]
Work is set to begin at the end of 2023, at first on 508 kilometres of the highway, traversing the provinces of Manica, Zambézia and Cabo Delgado.
Mozambique’s national road network is in a poor state in the wake of Cyclone Freddy – said to be the longest lasting cyclone on record. The ministry said 11,000 kilometres of roads were damaged by the severe weather in recent weeks.
Cyclone Freddy made landfall in Mozambique on Sunday for the second time in a month, killing more than 100 people, mostly in neighbouring Malawi.
