By Shire Abdi - Reporter
Djibouti, 20 June 2026 – The World Bank Group approved on Thursday $45 million grant for Djibouti’s regional economic corridor project to improve transport, logistics and road safety along the Djibouti-Addis Southern Corridor.
The World Bank said the latest grant builds on an original $70 million project approved in December 2021 and $90 million in additional financing approved in September 2024. The new approval brings total World Bank financing for the project to $205 million.
The financing will support the widening of high-risk sections of National Road 1 between Arta and Doudoubala into a dual carriageway with a median separation.
It will also finance targeted road-safety measures, stronger drainage systems, improved pavement structures and climate-resilient upgrades intended to withstand extreme heat and heavy rainfall.
The project includes a new component focused on safe access and road-safety management, including stronger institutions, speed management and enforcement, and improved vehicle-safety regulations.
The World Bank said the financing would also support gender-responsive roadside rest areas and marketplaces, with at least half of stalls allocated to women. Targeted business advisory services will also be provided.
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The project is expected to create 550 jobs.
Fatou Fall, World Bank Group joint resident representative for Djibouti, said the financing reflected the bank’s commitment to improving the safety, resilience and performance of a strategic regional transport corridor.
Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of Industry, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, said the Djibouti-Addis Corridor was a strategic economic route supporting regional integration, trade resilience and shared prosperity.
By 2033, the project is expected to reduce travel time along the corridor, cut truck border-crossing time at Guelileh, provide access to more resilient roads for more than 250,000 people and reduce road traffic deaths by 30%.
The project is also expected to rehabilitate 70 kilometres of roads to climate-resilient standards and expand real-time traffic and incident-management systems.