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World Bank, French agency provide $230m for rural roads

By BusinessNews Staff on October 5, 2013

The World Bank and the French Development Agency have said they are supporting the development of rural communities and the modernisation of agriculture in Adamawa, Enugu, Osun and Niger states with $230m under the Second Rural Access and Mobility Project.

The bank and the agency are contributing $170m and $60m respectively to the project, according to a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.

The statement said the project would build on the experience from the First Rural Access and Mobility Project that was rehabilitating more than 420 kilometres of rural roads and 130 river crossings in Kaduna State.

The Second Rural Access and Mobility Project inaugurated in Abuja on Thursday would support rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of about 1,450km of rural roads and build 65 river crossings in the benefiting states.

By improving the marketing of agricultural products, the RAMP-2 contributes to the Federal Government’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda, designed to boost the competitiveness of high-value crops such as rice, cassava, sorghum and cocoa, the World Bank said.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Ms. Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, said, “Agriculture remains the backbone of Nigeria’s rural economy and growth in the non-oil sector and it can be accelerated by improving roads that are vital to increase agriculture productivity, access to health as well as education for rural communities.

“Innovative community-based road maintenance schemes will involve local population in the design and operation of maintenance works, thus creating employment opportunities for men and women living along the roads to be rehabilitated.”

The Country Director, French Development Agency, Mr. Hubert Dognin, said special emphasis would be placed on the sustainability of the road investments through adequate maintenance in partnership with the states.

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