Missing links in proposed Mombasa-Lagos highway

What you need to know:

The objective for the highway, which was mooted in 1971, was mainly to enable smooth movement of cargo from the Port of Mombasa and in the countries through which the road passes.
The road is planned to pass through six countries — 737km in Nigeria, 1,044km in Cameroon, 1,319km in the Central African Republic (CAR), 1,561km in DR Congo, 740km in Uganda and 1,100km in Kenya.
More than four decades down the road, the project is yet to make satisfactory progress due to a series of hurdles.

The plan to build a 6,259km highway between Mombasa port and Lagos in Nigeria is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived on the continent.

The objective for the Trans-African Highway (TAH), which was mooted in 1971, was mainly to enable smooth movement of cargo from the Port of Mombasa and in the countries through which the road passes.

The road is planned to pass through six countries — 737km in Nigeria, 1,044km in Cameroon, 1,319km in the Central African Republic (CAR), 1,561km in DR Congo, 740km in Uganda and 1,100km in Kenya.

“In July 1971, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) launched the Trans-African Highway Project between Lagos, Nigeria and Mombasa as a pilot project to make it possible to draft principles and methods for effective intra-African co-operation in the construction of international highways,” says The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), the entity spearheading the project, on its website.

More than four decades down the road, the project is yet to make satisfactory progress due to a series of hurdles.

“Some sectors of the road have already been done but we need to fill the missing links to facilitate smooth movement of goods,” said NCTTCA chief executive Omae Nyarandi.

Director in charge of infrastructure development and management at NCTTCA Lievin Chirhalwirwa echoes Mr Nyarandi’s sentiments saying the proposed highway has some sections within the member states which are not in good state.

“We have considered those sections as missing links on the Trans-African Highway and among them, we have listed the Mbarara-Kisangani project, a 940km road project whose 108km is in Uganda and 760km in DRC Congo,” said Prof Chirhalwirwa.

Only Nigeria, Cameroon Uganda and Kenya have completed their roads, but there are missing links in the Central African Republic and DR Congo.

Other bottlenecks hampering the project, and which are cited in the NCTTCA website, include difficult terrain and climate conditions, inadequate funding for road maintenance and upgrades as well as insecurity due to civil conflicts that have also damaged roads that now require reconstruction.

Despite these myriad of challengers, planners are painting a rather hopeful picture about the grand continental project.

Mr Nyarandi said countries such as Kenya and Uganda have already done most of its road sections in the northern corridor.

“Where we will be moving now will be the member states, especially going to countries such as Southern Sudan and focus on the links going to Rwanda and Burundi,” said the CEO.

But perhaps what will positively change the tide for the prospects of the ambitious highway is the planned construction of the 940km road between Mbarara in Uganda to Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The NCTTCA has prioritised this key segment of the highway and is now seeking Sh1.1 billion from donors to carry out a feasibility study ahead of its construction.

“We have potential donors who are ready to assist but what they want is for these countries to prioritise these roads in their development agenda… and be ready to discuss it in a bilateral meeting that is expected to take place next month,” Mr Nyarandi told Shipping.

The chief executive said the organisation has already given out its proposals on the road to the prospective donors.

“...it is a very expensive project because we are talking of over 900 kilometres, and some of the proposals will be to have some of the sections to be developed in phases,” he said.

“The maximum cost for this study is $11.2 million (Sh1.1 billion) but this cost will be in phases because we must start by carrying out a feasibility study, then they will be a design and consultant engineer.”

Prof Chirhalwirwa said both DRC and Uganda have committed ( to the project) at the ministerial level, adding that the goodwill to implement the project is there.

“We need to come up with a bilateral meeting between the two member states together with development partners and what we are expecting is to get funds for feasibility studies for the 940km road,” he said.

NCTTCA in its website also reiterates the new-found political will and “high level commitments” by the DRC and Uganda governments to develop and upgrade the Northern Corridor road sections of Mbarara-Bushenyi-Kikorongo-Mpondwe-Kasindi-Beni-Komanda-Kisangani road.

“…with the current high political will between partner states, this project seems to be a reality,” says the authority on the website.

“The political will and commitment by the two Northern Corridor Member States after the consultations were also a result of a strong and unanimous directive by the 30th sitting of the Northern Corridor Council of Ministers held last August in Mombasa,” notes Mr Nyarandi.

On its website, NCTTCA says in DRC, the Kasindi-Beni-Komanda-Kisangani is approximately 760km long with most of its section of the corridor being a Class II unpaved road in eastern DRC. Its unpaved condition puts it in a category below a road of international status and is therefore in need of upgrading to Class 1 paved standard.

In Uganda, Mbarara-Bushenyi-Kikorongo-Mpondwe road , which is about 180km, is a Class II Paved road. Most part the road is in a fairly good condition with the exception of the Bushenyi-Katunguru section which needs reconstruction.