President Museveni and his DR Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi are in Kasese to launch the Mpondwe bridge and and attend the ground breaking ceremony to upgrade the ‘economic” roads in eastern DR Congo.
The multi-billion construction works will be undertaken by Ugandan companies including Dott Service Ltd. Already logistical and security protocols and deployments are underway with the UPDF expected to set up operations in the area to among others offer security to the Ugandan contractors and workers .
The opening up of the roads in Eastern DR. Congo will boost already on going trade between the two sister countries and strengthen the East African Cooperation. It will also offer another viable route for Ugandan made products being produced by well over 4,000 manufacturing companies that have set up shop in Uganda following President Yoweri Museveni and government’s industrialization drive.
Museveni has stated that with the industrialization process underway in much of Uganda ,the next biggest challenge will be to find the market for locally produced goods and this idea to open up the eastern route in DR.Congo has been warmly welcomed by the Ugandan industrialists .
The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), constructed the trade critical bridge.
Mpondwe Bridge is located on Kampala-Mubende-Fort Portal-Uganda/DRC Border Road, at Mpondwe trading centre. It runs over River Lhubiriha at the Uganda – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border.
The Mpondwe bridge project was undertaken to replace the old Bailey Bridge which was deemed unsafe for the heavy vehicular traffic that comprises of heavy cargo trucks due to wear and tear.
DRC is Uganda’s second biggest regional trade partner after Kenya. It is envisioned that fixing DRC roads will improve mobility, security and boost Uganda’s trade and investment.
In 2018, Uganda exported $221 million worth of goods to DRC in formal trade, while informal trade stood at $312 million making themtotal exports worth $533M. This therefore represents significant trade potential for Uganda.
