Ethiopian Roads Authority said, construction of 15 road projects at a cost of over 7.6 billion Ethiopian birr was undertaken throughout Ethiopia during the concluded Ethiopian Fiscal Year.

Samson Wondimu, Public relation director with the Authority, told Ethiopian News Agency over the weekend that the projects cover a total of 1,154km.

The Ethiopian government has covered 63.4 percent of the total budget, which accounts for over 4.8 billion birr for the construction, he said. Samson said 83 percent of the projects were constructed by local contractors, which he said help the country to save a great amount of hard currency intended to be paid for foreign contractors, and also help to build capacity of local contractors.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority is targeting to construct over 1,460 km road with a cost of over 28 billion birr during the current fiscal year, according to Samson.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency