Infrastructure

Work on 1,545km Mombasa-Bujumbura Highway Complete

This is part of the Trans-African Highway, which comprises a network of road projects.

Updated on

September 30, 2018

Mombasa-Bujumbura highway. — Mombasa-Bujumbura highway is part of the Trans-African Highway. PHOTO | FILE

Construction of a road connecting the port of Mombasa to Bujumbura has finally come to completion in a move likely to encourage Burundians to increase their trade through Kenya.

The 1,545-kilometre road, which links the two destinations through Voi, Taita Taveta, Holili border, Singida-Kobero border and finally to Bujumbura, has slashed the distance between Mombasa and Bujumbura through the Northern Corridor by 358 kilometres.

The Mombasa-Bujumbura highway project commenced in 2014, with Kenya building the section between Voi and Taveta border and Tanzania and Burundi working on their segments.

“(The road) will enhance Mombasa port’s accessibility in the region,” Transport Secretary James Macharia said during a Kenya Ports Authority luncheon in Nairobi last week.

“To ease traffic flow between the port of Mombasa and the hinterland, construction of a dual carriageway between Mombasa and Mariakani is ongoing and will be completed in 2020. The government plans to extend the dualing of the highway to Malaba via Nairobi,” he said.

Trans-African Highway

Mombasa-Bujumbura highway is part of the Trans-African Highway, which comprises a network of transcontinental road projects across Africa.

The purpose of these roads, which measure a combined 56,686 kilometres, is to promote cross-border trade and alleviate poverty in the continent.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the African Union are funding the highways in conjunction with regional international communities.

Launched in 1971 by UNECA, the Trans-African Highway is a network of nine highways comprising some of the most ambitious road projects in Africa.

These include a highway that stretches 8,000 kilometres between Dakar and Cairo and another 8,000-kilometre road between Cape Town and Cairo.

Others include a 6,000-kilometre thoroughfare between Mombasa and Lagos, and the 4,700-kilometre Trans-Sahelian Highway between Lagos and Dakar – which is already operational.