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China is set to start construction work on a $350 million toll road from Entebbe Airport to the capital Kampala in July in a bid to reduce congestion on the existing road, officials said today.
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| Traffic jam on Entebbe Road |
According to Daniel Alinange, the spokesman for the Uganda National Roads Authority, the government has already signed the $350 million loan with the Exim Bank of China for the financing of the project.
"Preparations are now in final stages and construction will start in July," he said, adding the Chinese will build and manage the toll road.
The existing 40-kilometer road connecting the Ugandan capital to Entebbe continues to be overwhelmed by increasing traffic and is regularly jammed.
According to the Uganda Investment Authority, China is now the country's main source of foreign direct investments and more Chinese companies are eying opportunities in the country's construction, agriculture, and oil and gas sectors.
China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd. has already agreed a joint venture with U.K.'s Tullow Oil PLC and France oil major Total SA to develop the country's downstream oil industry in at least three oil blocks in the Lake Albertine Rift basin. The deal awaits government approval.
According to Brain Glover, the general manager of Tullow Uganda Ltd., the three companies will invest at least $10 billion in the project, making it East Africa's largest ever single project so far, involving the construction of a refinery and a 1,300 kilometer-long oil export pipeline to the East African coast. - Dow Jones Newswires
