Africa’s Most Expensive Road Costs £351m — Here’s What Africans Need to Know

Africa’s most expensive route has cost millions to build, but is only the distance between Liverpool and Manchester.

The road cost approximately US$476 (£351million), million roughly US$9.2 (£6.8million) per kilometer. However, the new road is crucial in driving tourism, with journeys between the capital and the airport reduced from around two hours to just 30 minutes.

The road was first opened to traffic in 2018 and was completely free to use for the first five years. It is believed that around 25.3 million passages have used the road over the past three years, averaging around 28,000 vehicles per day.

The Expressway is now a toll road, meaning drivers have to pay extra to use the much faster route. Last year, officials explained that the road has collected UGX 119.8 billion (£23.9 million) over a three-year tolling period.

It is understood that more than 4,500 motorists use the Upesi Electronic Smart Cards to pay for their access to the route. In its first year, the road saw around 21 crashes a month, but this has now been reduced to just nine per month...READ FULL STORY; FROM THE SOURCE.

Stephen Kitonsa, engineer at Uganda’s Ministry of Works and Transport previously celebrated the huge success of the new Expressway.
He said: “This road has set a benchmark for future projects in Uganda, demonstrating the potential of effective tolling and maintenance systems.”
Data from Uganda E-Visa, shows the country enjoyed a whopping 1.37million international visitors in 2024, a 12.5% increase on numbers in 2023.

Visitors from the United States made up 18.5% of arrivals, followed by the United Kingdom with 15.2% of visitors. Younger demographics were more common, with millennials between 25 and 34 making up 32.1% of arrivals into the country.