The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $1.4 million grant under its New Partnership for Africa’s Development and Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) to help fund the construction of a superhighway connecting Uganda and Kenya. The East African Community will get the funds to do a feasibility study on the transnational highway.
The proposed expressway will connect the two nations, traveling through Kisumu, Kisian, Busitema, and Busia, and will contribute to the improvement of the Northern Corridor, which runs from Mombasa in Kenya to Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Currently, the current road system consists of two-lane single-carriageway bitumen portions that are facing substantial congestion as a result of expanding freight and passenger traffic loads, resulting in delays and increased business expenses.
The feasibility study will determine the economic potential of upgrading the existing transnational road portions to expressway standards. According to Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the East African Community’s Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, the project is anticipated to “revolutionize” the transportation of products and services between Nairobi and Kampala, with the possibility to expand further.
Malueth noted that the feasibility study will combine digital technology and take into account the East African Community’s people’ social and economic demands, transforming the expressway into a smart corridor.
Recognizing that insufficient project preparation frequently impedes project success, Malueth claimed that NEPAD-IPPF funding have supported the preparation of high-quality and bankable regional infrastructure projects that have attracted both public and private sector investment. Four international highways have been completed in the East African Community over the last two decades, with numerous others completing feasibility studies and detailed designs.
The AfDB’s Acting Manager for Infrastructure and Partnerships Division, Epifanio Carvarlho de Melo, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to working with the East African Community to guarantee the success of transformative projects that would benefit the region’s economy. The objective currently is to perform feasibility studies on the Uganda-Kenya expressway, a vital connection in the Northern Corridor and one of the Trans Africa Highways’ eight highways.
