The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved a loan of $109 Million to give to Uganda to improve road access to socio-economic facilities and quality of transport service levels in south-western and eastern parts of Uganda.
The money will be used to upgrade the Rukungiri-Kihihi-Ishasha/Kanungu and Bumbobi-Lwakhakha roads from gravel to bitumen standard.
The Board of Directors of AfDB approved the loan to support the realization of the National Development Plan (NDP) and Uganda’s Vision 2040.
AfDB’s director of the Department for Transport and Information and Communication Technologies Amadou Oumarou says the project will improve standards of living of the beneficiaries, support the tourism industry and promote regional integration and cross border trade with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya.
He said this presenting the project to the Bank’s board of directors.
“With this project, the African Development Bank is addressing a pressing demand for the provision of good quality and reliable transport infrastructure needed by Uganda for its socio-economic development and poverty reduction agenda,” said Oumarou.
He added that theexpected project outcomes are reduction in transport costs; increased mobility; improved access to economic and social facilities; provision of clean water to households; and increase in income of women vendors in the roadside markets.
The upgraded roads will also support cross border trade and regional integration by linking western Uganda with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and eastern Uganda with Kenya at the border of Ishasha and Lwakhakha respectively. The roads will also support the tourism activities at Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) and Mount Elgon National Park.
The project conforms to the key development policies of the AfDB and its assistance strategy to Uganda. It is in line with the AfDB’s 2011-2015 Results Based Country Strategy Paper (CSP) that focuses on infrastructure for development and increased agriculture productivity.
The CSP is closely aligned to the NDP that includes infrastructure as one of the five pillars. This is in line with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy (2013-2022), which prioritizes support to infrastructure development as one of the key areas for the AfDB’s future assistance.