Kenya-South Sudan highway to be completed in 2020: official

July 4, 2019 (NAIROBI) – Chinese contractors working on the Kenya-South Sudan highway will complete project by 2020, an official said.

The principal secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Julius Korir told Xinhua that three Chinese contractors won the tender to upgrade about 248 km of road to bitumen standards on the road section linking South Sudan.

“So far the project is about 30 percent complete and we expect the road to be commissioned in 2020,” he said Monday.

Korir said Kenya is prioritizing the highway, which is part of the East African Community road network so as to boost intra-regional trade.

He said the poor quality of the existing roads has negatively impacted on trade between Kenyan and Africa’s youngest nation.

“Kenyan traders are forced to travel through Uganda in order reach South Sudan, a process that could take up to three days. With the new road, travel time will be cut by at least two days,” stressed Korir.

South Sudan is a strategic partner of Kenya in many areas. The two countries have cultural similarities as many South Sudanese lived in Kenya during the war before independence.

(ST)