The World Bank today signed a US$47million additional financing grant to the Government of Liberia for the Urban and Infrastructure Rehabilitation project.  According to a World Bank release, the additional grant closes the financing gap required to fully fund the rehabilitation of the remainder of the Monrovia - Buchanan corridor.

The $47 million financing comes from two sources: $20 million is provided by the World Bank (through a specific Crisis Response Window set up to respond to the global financial crises), and $27 million from the Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund (LRTF). 

The LRTF, which is a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank, currently gets its funds from the Governments of Germany, Sweden, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Norway, as well as the World Bank. Also, the European Commission will very soon start contributing to LRTF.

The original URIRP, which was approved last year, provided funds from LRTF for the rehabilitation of the 15 km Cotton Tree - Bokay Town section, which is now nearly completed.

According to the World Bank Country Manager, Dr. Ohene Owusu Nyanin, “The additional financing will fund the remaining 66.5 km section Bokay Town - Buchanan.  It will take about 2 years to complete that section, but once finished, it will be the completion of improvement on 165 km roads from the port in Monrovia to the port in Buchanan”.