The nation's first toll road, Addis Adama Expressway, is undergoing major maintenance and upgrading at a cost of 27.2 million Br.

Expected to be completed in the coming two months, the project includes maintenance of the asphalt road, installing road lights and installing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. The Enterprise has repaired both lanes of the asphalt road for seven kilometres. It also put up road lights, which cover seven kilometres, on three toll plazas, for 14 million Br. The work has reached 70pc completion.

The maintenance of the road, which is underway by the engineering department of the Enterprise, started a month ago.

The upgrading projects aim at reducing road accidents and increasing road safety, according to Zahara Mohammed, marketing and communications team leader of the Enterprise, which has 800 employees and administers two toll roads, Addis-Adama, a 84.7Km toll road, which was constructed with 11.2 billion Br, and the Dire Dawa – Dewele Toll Road, a 220Km highway, which was built for 5.9 billion Br.

The upgrading project also includes the adoption of ERP, a concept first developed in the 1960s to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all departments’ particular needs. Supplied by Cybersoft Plc, a local company engaged in the Development of ICT solutions since 1998, the ERP software cost the Enterprise 4.6 million Br.

Recently, the Enterprise adjusted the tariff paid on Addis Adama Expressway. It charges 77 cents for automobiles and 105 cents for heavy trucks a kilometre on the Addis-Adama Toll Road. Since the road started operations, it has been used by 33 million vehicles, which generated one billion Birr in revenues. The number of cars it hosts a day has also increased from 8,000 to 24,000.