African Development Bank (AfDB) and the government of Uganda have signed two financing agreements for the improvement of road transport in the country.
The first agreement is a $276 million funding for the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project, while the second agreement, valued at $71.8 million, is for upgrading the Kabale-Lake Bunyonyi/Kisoro-Mgahinga road.
The agreements were signed on 11 May by Uganda’s Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija, and AfDB’s Country Manager, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan.
Kasaija described the projects as ‘transformative’ and in line with his government’s national development plan as well as the AfDB’s high five strategic priorities.
The Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project is expected to ease congestion in the capital by upgrading 22 road junctions, and enhancing the drainage capacity of the city to mitigate flooding on the streets.
‘The project will see the improvement of 67 km of roads, 134 km of non-motorised traffic facilities, and the provision of street lighting and scheduled eco-bus services, including bus depots and dedicated lanes’, a statement from the bank read.
‘It includes several complementary social initiatives, notably entrepreneurship training for at least 200 women and youths, and the construction of roadside markets and at least 30 public toilets in Kampala’.
The Kabale-Lake Bunyonyi/Kisoro-Mgahinga Project, on the other hand, is expected to improve transport connectivity in south-western Uganda by seamlessly connecting roads with inland water transport on Lake Bunyonyi.
The project includes the construction of four landing sites on Lake Bunyonyi, at least 1,000 streetlights at all the trading centres through which the road passes, two ferries, as well as search and rescue boats kitted with navigational aids.
‘The African Development Bank will continue to support the government and people of Uganda to achieve the country’s development objectives’, Ngafuan said.
‘The Bank is currently working with the government and other stakeholders to develop a new five-year country strategy paper that will continue to prioritise transformative interventions, especially in the transport sector’.
Source: AfDB
Source: Francesco Paroni Sterbini
