AfDB Earmarks $76M for Somali Road Programme

On 17 December 2025, Construction Review Online reported that the African Development Bank has earmarked $76 million to finance the Somali Road infrastructure programme. The report identifies two funding components: $49.16 million from the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional window, and $27.21 million from the Transition Support Facility, a scheme supporting countries affected by fragility and conflict. The stated total financing is $76 million, though the report does not confirm that the two components sum exactly to that figure.

The programme is intended to upgrade two strategic road corridors, according to Construction Review Online. One is a 15-kilometre stretch linking Zeila to Asha Addo in Somaliland; the other is a 22-kilometre route from Beled Weyne to Kalabeyr in Hirshabelle State. The reported scope includes bridges, additional road sections and trade facilitation measures. Community development initiatives such as boreholes and refurbished classrooms are also mentioned, with classes to be converted into skill centers, markets and storage facilities. The programme seeks to support cross-border trade, assist small traders and modernise customs procedures, the report states.

Construction Review Online says the project is designed to improve domestic transport links and strengthen trade across the Horn of Africa corridor, and that, once complete, it will connect Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Expected impacts include faster movement of goods and people, lower transport costs and improved regional integration.

The same Construction Review Online article said that earlier in the month the Bank approved $214.47 million for the second phase of the South Sudan–Ethiopia–Djibouti Transport Corridor Project, and that the Bank is financing road projects such as the Adama-Awash expressway project. These statements are attributed to the same source and have not been independently confirmed by SCR.