Construction on the 158 kilometre road stretching from Arusha to Holili in Tanzania and Taveta to Voi in Kenya is set to begin in November.

The Ministry of East African Cooperation said in a statement  the construction would begin after completion of a feasibility study and an in-depth analysis of the project to be financed by a credit facility from the African Development Bank and contributions from governments of Tanzania and Kenya.

The AfDB approved two loans last year for the construction of the project.Tanzania will receive US$ 120 million while Kenya will get US$ 113.12 million of the two loans. The bank facility will constitute 89.1 per cent of the total project cost.

The project is being constructed in an effort to reduce the cost of transport and enhance access to agricultural inputs, larger markets and social services within the East Africa Community (EAC) and is expected to be completed by December 2018. The governments of Kenya and Tanzania will also contribute US$5.6 million and US$ 12.3million, respectively.

The Arusha-Holili onto Taveta-Voi Road connections form a transport corridor of the East African region that links the Northern Corridor at Voi to the Central Corridor across the common border at Holili- Taveta-Voi through Arusha, Babati to Dodoma and Singida regions.

It will comprise civil works for the construction of the 42.4km Arusha bypass and dual carriageway linking the Sakina-Tengeru section of 14.1 kilometres as well as the construction of two roadside amenities at Tengeru, one on either side of the dual carriageway in Tanzania.

It will also involve the upgrading of the 89 kilometres Taveta-Mwatate portion and construction of the 12 kilometres Taveta bypass and two roadside amenities, one each at Bura and Maktau along the Mwatate- Taveta Road on the Kenyan side of the bargain.

The East African Community (EAC) seeks to improve regional transport infrastructure to support economic and social development programmes in the region, promote tourism and foster regional integration and at the same time reduce the cost of doing business by supporting cross border and international trade.