Uganda to get $190m road aid

15 December 2009

Uganda's national road network is to be improved through a $190 million (£117 million) grant from the World Bank and the British government.

Lead transport specialist for the Transport Sector Development Project and task team leader Dieter Schelling explained that the infrastructural upgrade would be good for the region as well as for Uganda.

He noted that the network serves as a transit corridor to the sea linking the landlocked neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, southern Sudan and sections 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."

World Bank Uganda country manager Kundhavi Kadiresan added that not only would the upgrade provide a boost to administrative and social services, but was also expected to have a broader impact on economic development.

Currently, an estimated 3,000 km of the nearly 11,000 km of national trunk roads in the country are paved.

Category: Transport