Comesa earmarks Shs190 billion for Kampala-Jinja highway expansion
A section of the Kampala- Jinja highway at Lugogo in Kampala. Comesa has identified 75 kilometres of the highway to be developed. Photo by Stephen Otage.
What you need to know:
A total of six projects worth Shs21.2 trillion will be worked on.
Kampala
The Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa has identified 75 km of the Kampala-Jinja highway as one of the six infrastructure projects to be developed by the bloc.
The six projects, identified by the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), are meant to be implemented by the year 2020. The projects were selected during a Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure that took place in Dakar, Senegal recently.
Infrastructure development
The objective of the Summit was to mobilise key stakeholders around the ongoing efforts by the African Union including the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Programme, to accelerate the implementation of priority regional economic infrastructure projects.
Information from the Comesa Secretariat shows the Kampala-Jinja highway is expected to cost $74 million (Shs196.1 billion) which is part of the total estimated $8 billion (Shs21.2 trillion) for the six Comesa projects.
These were presented to potential sponsors, developers, and financiers to work through project risks, regulatory constraints, and other obstacles to bankability. About $68 billion would be required for the implementation of the 16 priority projects identified by the PIDA Priority Action Programme until 2020.
“The six Comesa projects finances make 12.5 per cent of the $68 billion (Shs180.2 trillion) of the 16 priority projects identified by the PIDA Priority Action Programme until 2020,” the communication said.
PIDA is the African Union blueprint for regional and continental infrastructure development for the period, 2012 to 2040. It is jointly coordinated by the African Union Commission and NEPAD programme.
