BOAD finances interchange, viaduct and 10km of urban roads in Mali
Mr. Christian Adovelande, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), and Dr. Boubou Cissé, Minister of Economy and Finance of Mali signed a loan agreement totaling XOF25 billion (West African CFA franc) for the construction of an interchange, a viaduct and the development of 10 km of urban roads in the city of Sikasso in Mali.
The objective of the project is to:
- i) construct a trumpet interchange at the Bougouni-Koutiala junction (at the RN7-RN11 intersection);
- ii) build a 450.5-meter viaduct at the OUA roundabout;
- iii) develop 10 km of urban roads in the city of Sikasso. This project will help improve urban mobility in Sikasso in order to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants and boost trading activities at the national and regional levels.
Several development goals are targeted during the project’s operation phase:
- In terms of improvement in the movement of people and goods: 1,573,423 people will use the paved and earth roads annually while 24,102,223 tons of goods will be transported across the constructed or rehabilitated roads annually, thus reducing the average travel time by 50%;
- In terms of contribution to job creation: 873 direct and indirect jobs will be created and 600 jobs generated during the project implementation with 570 jobs for the youth and 18 jobs for women;
- Contribution to poverty reduction through additional wealth creation: the project will contribute to the creation of XOF19,186 M in direct and indirect added value with the generation of direct and indirect taxes by the government to the tune of XOF1,113 M.
This operation comes after two other operations of the Bank in the Sikasso region relating to: i) the rehabilitation and widening of the 210 km-long Bougouni-Sikasso stretch, already completed, and ii) the widening and asphalting project of the crossing of the city of Sikasso, on the 4.2 km-long RN7 urban section, yet to start.
These loans bring to XOF654 billion, the total amount of BOAD commitments in Mali, all sectors combined with XOF182 billion allocated to the basic infrastructure sector including the road infrastructure subsector.
