Uganda’s Entebbe-Kampala Expressway – BRI project connects major cities and international airport

Tourists and visitors traveling through Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport can save time between their destinations thanks to the 51-kilometer Kampala-Entebbe Expressway that was constructed by Chinese contractors.

The recently commissioned Entebbe-Kampala Expressway gives the travel manager easy access to his destination as the expressway stretches from the outskirts of the capital and leads to the main airport, cutting a 2-hour-long journey to only around 30 minutes. Entebbe airport is Uganda’s major international airport and serves as the main entry point into the country.

A tour and travel manager David Mulindwa drives over 30 kilometers to get to the country’s principal international airport which serves Uganda’s major cities of Entebbe and the capital of Kampala. “Having to drive tourists from Entebbe or having to drop tourists to Entebbe airport who have to catch a flight in a given time, you’d estimate maybe in an hour you’ll be in Entebbe or Kampala. But reaching the road from nowhere, [there is a] jam, the road is packed,” said Mulindwa, who is the CEO of Cwezi Safaris.

The new expressway heading in and out of the airport was officially opened in 2018 and features 19 over bridges and 18 underpasses to provide access to nearby towns. “When you use the express, you don’t have to go back to the city if you don’t have anything to do there. If you are bound for western Uganda, you just connect to the express expressway and then you are on to your destination,” added Mulindwa.

The 476-million-dollar road project was jointly funded by the government of Uganda and the Exim Bank of China, and had taken six years to complete, transforming both the roadways and the surrounding landscape. “When you drive through the express expressway, you can see the amount of infrastructure that people have put up, mainly because of the road itself,” said Mulindwa. The government has said that motorists will start paying road tolls later this year, but for drivers like Mulindwa, the expressway is already saving time and money.

SOURCE: Built by China, 6 Oct 2021.