Ethiopia and South Sudan are set to build a 320 km road connecting each other, following a $738 million financial agreement signed in May 2023.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday said South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) ratified the Ethiopia-South Sudan financial agreement to build a cross-border highway.
It said the assembly passed the agreement unanimously.
The highway project will connect North Eastern South Sudan to Western Ethiopia and aims to enhance connectivity and bolster economic ties between the two nations, underscoring the growing cooperation and mutually beneficial relationship between Ethiopia and South Sudan.
The government of Ethiopia also approved the agreement during its cabinet meeting recently.
The actual length of the road could be 320 kilometers, as it would pass through a swamp and black cotton soil, requiring extensive excavation.
The agreement was signed in May 2023 in Juba.
Ethiopia’s State Minister for Finance, Eyob Tekaligne and South Sudan’s Minister for Finance Dier Tong Ngor signed it in the presence of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Following the unanimous approval by the assembly, it will now be submitted to President Salva Kiir for final authorization, as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
MG/as/APA