Uganda has opened a new highway linking the Entebbe International Airport to the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area. The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway was opened on Friday June 15, by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni.
The 51km highway was commissioned with assistance from Exim Bank in China, with a loan of $350m (€302.8m). Construction was done by China Communications Construction Company, and supervised by Beijing Expressway Supervision. The highway is a four-lane carriageway and is the first toll road in the country.
The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) hopes that the expressway will ease congestion in the Central Business District, as well as create an efficient link between the airport and areas along the shores of Lake Victoria – including the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa, which is expected to finish development of its second nine-hole golf course in September.
In May, the UNRA opened the bidding process for the construction of a highway linking the capital, Kampala, to the industrial city of Jinja. This highway is expected to become a key link in transport routes to East Africa.