Skip to main content

East Africa’s massive new ring road project

Plans are being drawn up for a major new highway project in East Africa. Preparations are being made by the authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The 450km ring road route runs around the shoreline of Lake Victoria and will provide better transport connections for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as well as for other near neighbours, particularly Rwanda and Burundi. New border posts will be required, to help increase the flow of traffic between the nations. Although it will be complex, the project will boos
June 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
RSSPlans are being drawn up for a major new highway project in East Africa. Preparations are being made by the authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The 450km ring road route runs around the shoreline of Lake Victoria and will provide better transport connections for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as well as for other near neighbours, particularly Rwanda and Burundi. New border posts will be required, to help increase the flow of traffic between the nations. Although it will be complex, the project will boost transport connectivity around the lake area and develop trade and commerce between the three nations, as well as Rwanda and Burundi. It is expected to cost in the region of US$410 million to construct, but the economic benefits of the road to these five nations will vastly outweigh the building costs.

Feasibility studies are now being carried out with a view to providing the basis for a more detailed route, as well as assessing any potential environmental issues. Once the feasibility studies are complete design work can commence. Much of the funding for the project is expected to be sourced from the World Bank.

Kenya’s portion of the route would most likely run from Bumula in Busia County to Muhuru Bay in Migori County, according to the local authorities in Kenya’s Homa-Bay. The routes for the sections running through Uganda and Tanzania have yet to be revealed.

Related Content

  • Louis Berger wins Mozambique N303 road upgrade consultancy deal
    February 19, 2015
    Infrastructure consultancy Louis Berger is to provide services worth US$7.6 million for the rehabilitation of Mozambique’s National Road N303. The Sub-Saharan Regional Pipeline Corporation awarded the contract for work on the 350km narrow and unpaved carriageway that crosses Tete province. SSRPC is investing $350 million to upgrade the road that starts at the Zambezi River, where Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have a common border. The modernised road will be the shortest link to a railway under constructi
  • New Costa Rica route in focus
    March 1, 2019
    A new road project in Costa Rica is being evaluated at present. The plans call for an upgrade of Route 32, providing an improved 46km link between Virilla River and Sucio River areas. The project would require the driving a new tunnel in parallel with the existing Zurqui Tunnel, located on the southern side of the Braulio Carillo National Park. The project is expected to cost US$643 million and the route is likely to be offered to tender under a 30 year tolled concession package. A full feasibility study ha
  • Develop the Silk Roads, boost economic growth
    February 28, 2012
    Tony Pearce, honorary life member and former director-general of IRF Geneva, recalls the history of the Silk Roads, highlights their continued economic relevance and introduces IRF's active long-term commitment to their rehabilitation. The Silk Roads had their origins in a Chinese military mission in 138BC to purchase horses in Central Asia's Fergana Valley that were reputed to run so fast that they sweated blood. When General Chang Ch'ien reached Fergana, now in Uzbekistan, he found that the fabled horses
  • Houston, Texas is seeing fast expansion of population, with in vast increases in traffic
    October 9, 2018
    The US city of Houston is expanding fast and its transport system is having to be developed to cope