NAIROBI (Reuters) - The African Development Bank said on Tuesday it had approved a $326.5 million loan to finance the building of 438 km (275 miles) of road linking Kenya to Ethiopia. "The project aims at improving transportation between Kenya and Ethiopia for the benefit of both countries and the region," the development bank said in a statement. "On completion, the project is expected to reduce transport and shipping costs between Kenya and Ethiopia; reduce transit time for imports and exports; and increase the volume of Ethiopian goods transiting through the Mombasa Port in Kenya," it said. Landlocked Ethiopia is also forging better road links with Sudan to ease dependence on the Red Sea port of Djibouti. The road south from Ethiopia's border with Kenya is unsurfaced for more than 500 km until it reaches the Kenyan town of Isiolo and is one of the worst highways in east Africa's biggest economy. The Kenyan government has already started improving a stretch of highway north of Isiolo. | 
