ADB provides $490m loans for urban governance, rural road connectivity

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Bangladesh on Monday signed two loan agreements, amounting to $490 million, for achieving integrated urban governance and rural road connectivity in the country.
 
Sharifa Khan, secretary of the Economic Relations Division, and Edimon Ginting, ADB Country Director for Bangladesh, signed both agreements on behalf of the respective sides, said ADB press releases.
 
The ADB financing for improving urban governance and infrastructure program will help achieve integrated and sustainable urban development to improve the livability of 88 municipalities, benefiting 7.6 million people in Bangladesh.
 
The programme, with $300-million financing, aims to strengthen urban governance and provide capital investment for improved delivery of municipal services based on the Municipal Development Plan of Bangladesh.
 
The ADB Country Director emphasised the pivotal role of climate-resilient and sustainable urban development in propelling Bangladesh toward middle-income status by 2030.
 
"Efficient municipal services, improved capacity, better infrastructure and governance, and people's participation will help accelerate a balanced urban growth in Bangladesh," Edimon Ginting said.
 
To strengthen institutional capacity for inclusive municipal governance, this results-based loan will help prepare and implement an urban governance improvement action plan in each participating municipality and digitalise the monitoring and evaluation system, including the revenue management system.
 
It will also support specific interventions to promote women's leadership role, pursue equity through budget earmarking for addressing the particular needs of women and the vulnerable, and adopt guidelines on climate-resilient and socially inclusive public spaces and facilities.
 
At least 900 kilometres (km) of stormwater drainage will be upgraded, 1,500 km of roads will be rehabilitated, and public facilities will be refurbished or developed considering the needs of women and the vulnerable population.
 
The program supports urban resilience by scaling the preparation and implementation of risk-informed master planning and investments, with climate financing amounting to 60% of the loan amount.
 
On the other hand, the additional loans of $190 million for the ongoing Rural Connectivity Improvement Project will help upgrade rural roads, make agricultural areas more productive, and improve socioeconomic centres in rural Bangladesh.
 
"This project will help improve access to social services and boost economic opportunities in the rural areas while making communities more resilient to climate change and natural disasters," said Edimon Ginting.
 
The ADB Country Director underscored that the project is instrumental in not only expanding rural road networks but also making them climate and disaster-resilient.
 
This project also helps improve transport efficiency in rural areas, boost agricultural productivity, and generate employment.
 
Since its approval in November 2018, the project has successfully upgraded approximately 1,700 kilometres of rural roads, bolstered the capacities of rural infrastructure agencies, and elevated rural road master planning. More than 900 km of rural roads have been added to the original target since 2020.
    
This additional financing will further extend the improvement of another 1,350 km of rural roads with climate resilience design and improved safety features.