The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund approved on Thursday in Abidjan $21.6 million in grants for the third phase of the National Road Network Rehabilitation Program in the Union of Comoros.

The grants comprise $14.1 million from the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group, and $7.5 million from the Transition Support Facility, a special purpose entity within the Bank Group that provides funding complementary to its other instruments.

The project’s third phase will focus on improving the RN2 (Ourovéni-Foumbouni) in Grand Comores, the main island, the RN21 (Domoni-Mrémani) roadway on Anjouan island and Mwali’s RN32 (Wallah-Nioumachoua) roadways. All three are located in areas with substantial economic and tourist potential.

"These road improvements will increase access to inland regions of the country and promote economic growth that is hindered by the deplorable nature of the country's transport infrastructure," said Pamphile Codo, the program team leader.

Currently, the RN2 section provides the only access route to the beaches of Ourovéni and Malé, which are patronized by visitors, including tourists from all over the world. The RN21 serves many villages of the island of Grand Comores, and connects to several regional roads. The RN32 traverses the most fertile region from where the largest share of the country’s agricultural produce is transported to the small port of Howani for onward shipment by boat to the other two islands that makes up Comoros.

The Ourovéni-Foumbouni section (7.2 km long) is home to 51.5% of the country's population, the Domoni-Mrémani stretch (14 km) has 41.2% of the population and the Wallah-Nioumachoua section (9 km) has 7.3% of the population.

As of February 2022, the African Development Bank Group has four active operations in its Comoros portfolio, with a total commitment of $85 million.