The World Bank has approved a $190m credit to Uganda to finance its Transport Sector Development Project for improved roads and better transport sector management.

The money will be used to upgrade the 160km Gulu-Atiak and Vurra-Arua-Oraba roads from gravel to paved, as well as create and operate a new National Road Safety Authority.

The project’s lead transport specialist and task team leader Dieter Schelling said Uganda’s road transport infrastructure serves as a transit corridor to the sea linking the landlocked neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan and parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“What we want to see this operation achieve is the reduction of average transport cost and travel time on project roads, better access by the rural population and a general decline in the annual accident fatalities,” Schelling said.