KAMPALA – Construction companies from Europe have dominated the bids to Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA)’s also the country’s first ever public-private partnership (PPP) Jinja express highway, the authority has revealed.
Companies on Monday submitted bids for the project to build and operate a 95-kilometer (59-mile) toll road worth more than $1 billion.
“Different entities have brought in bids this morning expressing interest in the construction of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway PPP project,” UNRA confirmed.
According to Ms. Allen Kagina UNRA’s Executive Director, the France-based Vinci SA, Strabag SE Austria and Tecnasol Luisa Goncal of Portugal are leading groups in bids for the road linking Kampala city to Jinja town.
“China Communications Company Ltd. and China First Highway Engineering Co. presented a joint bid, while CCKS Consortium led another group,” Kagina explained.
The Construction Investment Group Co. is bidding with India’s Cube Construction Engineering Ltd., while others are Shapoorji Pacconji and South Africa’s Enkula Expressway Consortium.
The International Finance Corp. is the transaction adviser for the project while the African Development Bank (ADB), the French Development Agency and the European Union will lend the country a $400 million for the road.
The European Union (EU) will provide 90 million euros, according to Chris Olobo, the IFC consultant for the project.
The winning group will mobilize at least $600 million for the project that will be awarded by the end of 2019 and construction may take five to six years.
In the recent past, however, Chinese and Indian Construction Companies had dominated the road sector and the entire economy.
