AfDB injects USD 1.4 million to study the construction of a super highway from Mombasa to Uganda

By Our reporter

16^th Nov 2023

The plan to construct a super highway connecting Uganda and Kenya could become a reality, following the financial intervention of the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

The Bank, through its New Partnership for Africa’s Development and Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF), has approved a 1.4 million dollar grant to the East African Community for the feasibility study of the Multinational expressway.

It is planned to connect the two countries, from Kisumu through Kisian, Busitema, and Busia, as part of the Northern Corridor that runs from Mombasa in Kenya to Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Currently, the road system is made of two-lane single-carriageway bitumen sections that are heavily congested due to increased traffic volumes for both cargo and passengers, which leads to delays and higher costs of doing business.

The feasibility study will determine the economic viability of upgrading the existing multinational road sections from single carriageway to expressway standards, in mind to “revolutionise” the movement of goods and services between Nairobi to Kampala, and beyond.

The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, said that the feasibility study will result in the development of a smart corridor beyond the traditional concept of transport corridor by incorporating digital technology as well as the social and economic needs of the citizens of the EAC as its core elements.