Kampala-Jinja Expressway
AfDB grants $229.5m loan for Kampala-Jinja Expressway project in Uganda. Credit: formulanone.

Uganda will receive a sovereign loan of $229.5m from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the first phase of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway project.

Supporting the government’s ‘Vision 2040’ agenda, the project is set to position Uganda as a regional transit hub.

In a statement, AfDB said: “It will co-finance, with the European Union and Agence Francaise de Développement, $400m, which will pave the way for private sector financing of the remaining $800m.”

The entire 95km Kampala-Jinja Expressway will be built on public-private partnership (PPP) and is likely to cost approximately $1.55bn.

The Kampala-Jinja Expressway PPP project will be constructed in two phases and includes the Kampala-Jinja Mainline Expressway and Kampala Southern Urban Bypass (KSB).

“It will co-finance, with the European Union and Agence Francaise de Développement, $400m, which will pave the way for private sector financing.”

During the construction and operational phases of the project, more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs are estimated to be created.

Upon becoming operational, the Kampala-Jinja Expressway will boost national economic productivity, competitiveness, regional trade and integration, and will help to decrease traffic in and around Kampala.

The road will also cut travel time between Kampala and Jinja, Uganda’s two main economic hubs.

Located along Uganda’s Northern Corridor, the expressway also connects Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan with Kenya’s Mombasa maritime port.

Starting at Nakawa, the expressway will run through Namanve and Mukono, and end at the New Jinja Bridge in Njeru.