This document summarizes a presentation given at the Uganda Investment Forum on road infrastructure in Uganda. It provides an overview of Roughton International Ltd, a British engineering firm that has worked on over 40 road projects in Uganda. It then discusses Uganda's road network, noting it consists of over 70,500 km of roads, with national roads making up 19,536 km and carrying 85% of traffic. Charts are presented benchmarking the condition of Uganda's roads compared to other East African countries. The document concludes with sections on opportunities for private sector investment in roads through public-private partnerships, noting the political stability in Uganda has increased investor confidence.

1. Uganda Investment Forum
Kampala, 11th – 12th April 2013
Transport Infrastructure Session
Road Infrastructure
Presented by: Matumueni Bukaka
Director - East Africa
Friday 12 April 2013
1

2. Contents
• Roughton International Ltd (RI Ltd)
• Uganda’s Road Infrastructure
• Benchmarking Uganda’s Roads
• Private Sector Involvement
• Public-Private Partnerships
2

3. Roughton International Ltd (RI Ltd)
Who are we?
•
•
•
British Consulting Engineering firm
Created in 1952 in East Africa
Established Head Office in the UK since 1965
What do we do?
•
•
•
Specialise in transport sector infrastructure
Our works in Uganda concentrate on the road sector
Carried out more than 40 road projects in Uganda to date
• First project, Construction Supervision of Kabale - Ntungamo road in
1967.
• RI Ltd has recently installed an Asset Management System with the
Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA), which defines the Ugandan
National Road Network and provides sound basis for network
management and development
Where do we operate?

5. Uganda’s Road Infrastructure
•
•
•
•
Road transport is the dominant mode of transport
Over 90% of passenger and freight traffic use roads infrastructure
Effective management of this asset is of vital importance.
Road Infrastructure in Uganda comprises of approximately 70,500
km of National, District, Urban and Community access roads.
• National Roads Infrastructure.
–
–
–
–
network length: 19,536 Km (28.9% paved and 71.1% unpaved)
make up about 30% of the road sector network
carry about 85% of the total road traffic.
provide vital transport corridors linking Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern DRC
and Southern Sudan to the sea.

7. Benchmarking Uganda’s Roads
(based on 2005 data)

8. Main Network Conditions in Eastern Africa
(based on 2005 data)

9. Condition of East Africa’s regional road network
by member country
(based on 2008 data)

10. Private Sector Involvement
• Adequate Road Infrastructure is crucial for Uganda economic
growth.
• The Government has made significant progress in implementing
commercialisation within the road sector.
• The Government has recently financed a sizeable share of road
infrastructure projects; however in order to meet its targets for
road infrastructure improvement, some form of collaboration with
private sector is necessary.
• This presents significant opportunities for Private sector
investment in road infrastructure assets.
• To attract private organisations investment in the road sector the
government need to demonstrate that:
– Projects are high priority and that there is a commitment from the
government to work with investors to bring projects to financial close.
– There is a clear implementation timelines.
– There is a guarantee for long-term policy stability, revenue certainty
and government capacity to implement projects.

11. Public-Private Partnerships
• For the Government, PPPs:
– provide an opportunity to improve the delivery of services and
management of facilities
– allow the mobilisation of private capital and Improve procurement of
public services
– can achieve better value and increase innovation.
– can be highly complex policy instruments and must be fully
understood, professionally implemented and managed.
• For Private Organisations, PPPs:
– allow the application of their skills and experience to the road
infrastructure development and operation
– allow the mobilisation of finances for long-term infrastructure
investments.
• The political will to make decisions quickly and transparently is
crucial to optimising the benefits and building investor confidence.
• Uganda has experienced in recent years heightened political
stability, improved governance and transparency and become
increasingly open to regional and global integration.

12. Thank you