The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan of €137.3m ($194m) for Tunisia to finance a motorway project that will link Gabes to Ras Jedir.

The AfDB will give the loan to the Tunisia Highways Company. The loan will also be financed by the Japan International Co-operation Agency,, which will give €136.4m.

The project involves the construction of a 195-kilometre road between Gabes on the coast and Ras Jedir on the border with Libya. The road is aimed at increasing the accessibility between the North, South and East of Algeria.

It will be a vital part of the Trans-Maghreb motorway. This project is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs and 160 operations jobs.

In May, the AfDB approved a $500m loan to support Tunisia’s interim government (MEED 31:5:11). The emergency funding will be released in a single tranche and is part of a wider $1.4bn support package from the Washington-based World Bank, the European Union and the French Development Agency.