World Bank funds $130.8m road infrastructure upgrade in Uganda’s West Nile sub-region
The World Bank Board of Directors today approved a grant of $130.8 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to ease the movement of goods and people and improve access to social services and job opportunities in the refugee hosting districts in the West Nile sub-region of Uganda. It is financed through the IDA18 Window for Host Communities and Refugees.
Theย Uganda Roads and Bridges in the Refugee Hosting Districts Projectย will upgrade 105ย kilometre (km)ย Koboko-Yumbe-Moyo road from gravel toย bitumen andย strengthen the institutional capacity ofย theย Uganda National Roads Authority to manageย environmental,ย social,ย and road safety risks.
โThisย road project marks our re-engagement and strong supportย forย the transport sector,ย aย keyย developmentย pillarย in Uganda.ย We expectย it to bring economic and social benefits to both hosting communities and refugees and reduce the income disparities between West Nile and the rest of Uganda,โย saidย Tony Thompson, World Bank Country Manager.
Uganda is the โland bridgeโ for the rest of the Great Lakes region, connecting its landlocked neighbours to coastal countries. The project will foster greater regional integration through trade with DRC and South Sudan, reduce travel time, and create employment for youth and women.
The transport sector contributes to about 3 percent of the countryโs GDP.ย About 95 percent of freight traffic and 99 percent of passenger traffic takes place on Ugandaโs road network.ย The traffic volume on the network has been growing at a rate of about 6 percent per year.
Uganda currently hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa and the third largest in the world. Around 57 percent of the 1.4โฏmillion refugees living in Uganda live in the northern region, having come from South Sudan and the DRC. The historicalโฏlack of development in West Nile, a sub region in the North, combined with the continued inflow of refugees, has added to pressures on existing public services and infrastructure. Most refugee settlements are in rural and remote locations that increase the challenges for local economic development, thereby posing significant development challenges to both refugees and host communities.
The Government has prioritised interventions that create economic opportunitiesย thatย benefit both refugees and host communities as a means of enhancing self-reliance and alleviating pressure on existing public service delivery and infrastructure.ย About 54 percent of refugees still depend on humanitarian assistance as their main source of livelihood.ย Theย proposedย road corridor is the lifeline for the host and the refugee population of the districts of Koboko, Yumbe and Moyo and passes close to Bidibidi (the most populous refugee settlement in Africa), Lobule, andย Palorinyaย refugee settlements directly impacting 360,177 refugees and indirectly benefiting 810,529 refugees within the region.
โThis road corridor connects DRC and South Sudan through Uganda,ย andย itย is an alternate route to reach the northern part of the country from Kampala and many other parts of Uganda. This will provide a safe and reliable conduit for travel of goods and people all through the year, thereby contributing to the economic growth of the region,โโฏsaidโฏT Pratap,โฏSenior Transport Specialist and World Bankโs Task Team Leader for the project.
The Koboko-Yumbe-Moyo projectย complements otherย transportย investments by the World Bank Group in Uganda. The Bank is also financing theย rehabilitation of theย 340km Tororo-Mbale-Soroti-Lira-Kamdiniย road under theย Uganda North Eastern Road-corridorย Asset Management Projectย andย construction ofย the 100kmย of theย Kyenjonjo-Kabwoyaย road underย theย Albertineย Region Sustainable Development Project.
Through theย Uganda Forced Displacement Program, the Bank isย providing grantย finance toย various interventions toย support host communitiesย and refugees.ย Social services and community infrastructure are beingย strengthened and sustainably managed in the West Nile under theย Developmentย Response to Displacement Impacts Projectย , theย Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Projectย and the pipelineย Uganda intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Project.ย Uganda Integrated Water Management and Development Projectย is transitioning humanitarian water supplies to sustainable development managed utilities. Theย Investing in Forests and Protected Areas for Climate-Smart Development Projectย ย plans to strengthen forestry and land degradation which will complement environmental safeguards of theย roadย constructionย while theโฏUganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme-Additional Financing (USMID-AF)ย is helpingย improve infrastructure and land tenure security in refugee-hosting districts.
UNRA will implement the project inย collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Works and Transport, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development,ย Ministry of Local Governmentย and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
World Bankย Program in Uganda
TheโฏWorld Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries,ย has financedย 10ย transport operations in Ugandaย since 1965. The Bankโsย currentย portfolio in Uganda comprises 24 operations for a total commitment of US$2.8 billion.
