May 28, 2026 — Fika (formerly Bridges to Prosperity) and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced an $11.9 million grant to support the third phase of the Transformative Rural Access for Improved Livelihoods (TRAIL) program in Ethiopia. The three-year investment, running from October 2025 through September 2028, builds on a decade of partnership and positions Ethiopia for a fully government-owned, sustainable rural access program.
The TRAIL program, launched in Ethiopia with Helmsley support and implemented in partnership with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and the Government of Ethiopia, has already connected more than 2.6 million rural Ethiopians by constructing 135 trail bridges across five regional governments. This next phase will significantly expand that work, targeting the construction of at least 198 additional trail bridges, expanding to a sixth region, and deploying new infrastructure solutions, including stone arch and long-span designs.
The announcement comes on the heels of a major milestone: in 2024, the Ethiopian government secured a $407 million commitment from the World Bank for the Rural Connectivity for Food Security Program (RCFSP), a program directly shaped by the success of TRAIL. The Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure has invited Fika and its partners to help manage the trail bridge component of the RCFSP, creating a rare opportunity to align philanthropic investment with government commitment and World Bank funding at scale.
“What we’ve built in Ethiopia over the last five years is a proof point for what’s possible when government, private sector, and civil society move together,” said Nivi Sharma, CEO of Fika. “This next phase is about making sure Ethiopia has the systems, the talent, and the plan to keep building long after we step back.”
“When we improve access to rural transport, we improve livelihoods. We share with Fika the vision that rural isolation is a problem that is solvable in our lifetimes, and systems change is the key to large-scale progress in rural connectivity,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “Fika’s foundational partnerships with the Ethiopian government and with the private sector in Ethiopia show that this model is not only successful, but also replicable.”
The Phase III program will pursue three interconnected objectives: expanding capacity-building for government and the private sector across six regions; institutionalizing rural access in national and regional policy and master plans; and advancing the global evidence base for rural infrastructure investment. Key activities include a national rollout of Fika Collect, Fika’s community-driven needs assessment tool; a maintenance framework pilot; integration with the RCFSP implementation plan; and joint resource mobilization with the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure for long-term program sustainability beyond the RCFSP scope.
Research by economists at Notre Dame and Yale has documented that trail bridges increase labor market income by 30% and farm profits by 75% in the communities they serve. Preliminary results from a large-scale randomized controlled trial recently completed in Rwanda indicate even stronger returns in the African context.
“Ethiopia is at an inflection point,” said Zerihun Endale, Fika’s Country Director in Ethiopia. “The government is committed. Our job now is to make sure that commitment translates into real, durable infrastructure for communities that have waited too long.”
The Phase III TRAIL program will be implemented in the Amhara, Oromia, Central, Sidama, South, and Tigray regions of Ethiopia.
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About Fika
Fika is a nonprofit organization working to connect rural communities to the services, opportunities, and each other that make prosperous lives possible. Operating in Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia, Fika partners with governments and local private sector to build trail bridges and the enabling environments for long-term, government-owned rural access programs. Learn more at www.fika.org.
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $4.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. For more information on Helmsley and its programs, visit helmsleytrust.org.
