The African Development Bank (AfDB) via a release published on January 28 announced it has granted Mali FCFA60 billion to finance a project which aims to improve the mobility and resilience of populations by constructing roads and building basic social infrastructures.

The funding which is divided into a loan of FCFA40 billion and a grant of FCFA20 billion, will be injected in a project to construct roads and facilitate transport on the Bamako-Zantiebougou-Kolondieba-Boundiali-San Pedro corridor, a multinational project between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire.

The project includes the asphalting of 140 km of road, the construction of 100 km of rural roads as well as installing solar-powered lighting systems in various communities and building multifunctional centres for women’s associations, in addition to supplying equipment kits for processing agricultural products.

It also includes the digging of drinking water wells, rehabilitating and equipping health centers, providing ambulances and tricycles to transport patients, developing local markets, building a juxtaposed checkpoint and a livestock market at the border of Mali and Cote d’Ivoire.