I Unpacking Uganda’s major highway- the Kampala Entebbe Expressway

Unpacking Uganda’s major highway- the Kampala Entebbe Expressway

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway project was the result of a consultation between the Government of Uganda and that of the People’s Republic of China which began in 2009

By James Odero

In 2018, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni together with the National Committee Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) officially commissioned the completed section of the work on the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway. When fully completed, the multimillion-dollar infrastructural project will become the first ever toll road in Uganda and one of its kind to connect two major cities, Kampala and Entebbe, and the city of Kampala with an international airport.

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway project was the result of a consultation between the Government of Uganda and that of the People’s Republic of China which began in 2009. The main objective of this project according to the Ministry of Works and Transport, was to improve traffic conditions on both bypass and distributer roads in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) by providing efficient mass transit routes, consequently decongesting Kampala City and enhancing urban development.

Nine years later, from the time of commencement of the project, Ugandans are yet to fully enjoy the fruits of what a parliamentary report through the Committee of Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) termed in 2016 as the most expensive infrastructural project by Ugandan standards.

Details and components of the project

Designed along a 49.56 km stretch on 773.87 acres of land, the 4lane dual carriageway has two major sections; a road connecting Kampala Northern Bypass to the existing Kampala Entebbe Road at Mpala and an interchange at Kajjansi. The sections are 36.94 and 12.62 km respectively and are expected to link the metropolitan area.

In order to improve the time of travel, sections of the road have been widened with a design speed of 80km/h for standard roadway and highway, and a speed of 50km/h for throughway. The construction has also been designed to include other structures such as underpasses, box slab culverts and overpass bridges, toll gates, interchanges and four major bridges including a suspension bridge which provide access to areas around the road.

Along with the features will come a connection to a new highway which leads to Munyonyo; Uganda’s international conference destination.

With sections of the road already opened for use to motorists, the importance of the expressway cannot be downplayed. “Where it used to take two hours to drive between Entebbe and Kampala, now this has been reduced to 40 minutes on the Expressway” says a motorist who uses the road. The speed limit on the expressway ranges between 50km/h and 100km/h.

Photos courtesy of Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda.

Financing

The project was jointly funded by the government of Uganda and the Export Import Exim Bank of China. Originally valued at 476 million USD, the price of the project was later revised upwards to 479 million USD to partly compensate persons affected by the project and also meet the liability due to the contractor during the idle time in which the government was resolving the land conflict.

The Government of Uganda provided up to 126 million USD, while the remaining 350 million USD was funded by the China Exim Bank through a concessional loan agreement signed with Uganda in May 2011, to be repaid over a period of 40 years.

Part of the terms of the loan agreement with China also required that the consulting and construction companies used for the project be of Chinese origin.

Contractors

Consequently, the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) Limited was chosen to implement the project. The Company was awarded a design-build contract by the Uganda National Roads Authority UNRA to design and construct the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, while Beijing Expressway Supervision (BES) was selected as the consulting engineer for the supervision of design and construction works as part of the loan agreement with China. Ugandan consulting firm Project Management and Engineering (PROME) Consultants provided site project management, investigations and laboratory tests, and geotechnical survey services for the expressway. The Authority also engaged International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank as the transaction adviser for the project.

To carry out preliminary assessment for the toll road, the International Finance Corporation contracted IMC Worldwide and Vetiver Associates.

Benefits

With the Kampala Entebbe Expressway nearing completion, there are already a lot of notable benefits. This is in spite of the short-term negative effects such as displacement which characterize mega infrastructural development projects.

As envisioned, the carriageway is steadily reducing the cost and time of travel within the metropolitan area which represents more than half of the total national traffic population in Uganda.

The new Kampala-Entebbe Expressway has eased traffic congestion and greatly reduced the travel time for motorists from Kampala to Entebbe to 30 minutes from the two hours initially spent on the Kampala-Entebbe Road. The improved traffic flow means the country will recover up to 6 percent of its GDP lost annually due to traffic congestion.

Project Timelines

2009: The Government of Uganda begins consultations with the government of People’s Republic of China for the Expressway Project November 2010: the Government of Uganda and China sign an agreement where the Chinese government through the Exim Bank of China would lend up to $350m for the construction of the highway, repayable over 40 years. May 2011: Ugandan parliament approves 350 USD concessional loan with two percent interest from China’s Exim Bank for the construction of the road. November 2012: President Yoweri Museveni launches the project at a groundbreaking ceremony in Kyangera. The project commences on 19th November 2012 and is expected to be complete by 18th November 2017, but this is revised to 16th November 2018, and later revised to 25th July 2019.

The project in figures

USD 476,000,000.00: The original contract sum of the project USD 479,172,020.00: Revised contract price