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African Development Bank approves sh652 billion loan for Arua Airport upgrade
The approval of the loan facility comes hardly a week after the newly appointed Minister for Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, in an exclusive interview with the Weekend Vision, revealed that several airports across the country had been earmarked for upgrade.
African Development Bank approves sh652 billion loan for Arua Airport upgrade
By: Charles Etukuri, Journalist @New Vision
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The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group’s Board of Directors on Friday, June 19, 2026, approved €155.99 million (sh652b) for the upgrade of Arua Airport into an international-standard facility, under Phase 1 of the Uganda Airports Development Programme (UADP).
In a statement released on Friday, AfDB said the financing will transform regional air transport and unlock new economic opportunities.
The approval of the loan facility comes hardly a week after the newly appointed Minister for Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, in an exclusive interview with the Weekend Vision, revealed that several airports across the country had been earmarked for upgrade.
“You have seen the Kidepo International Airport coming on board, and we thank our good friends from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who have taken it up and will fund it. President Yoweri Museveni has guided us and directed that we are going to expand Mbarara Airfield into an international airport. Also, under the AfDB, we are going to expand the Arua Aerodrome into an international airport, because Arua is the second busiest place after Entebbe,” Byamukama said.
Located roughly 450 kilometres from the capital Kampala, Arua is a strategic gateway to Uganda’s West Nile region, and neighbouring markets in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, limited domestic and international air travel facilities within this region have hindered its growth.
The UADP programme aims at improving domestic and regional connectivity through safer, more efficient and climate-resilient aviation infrastructure.
It will involve the construction of a 3.5-kilometre paved runway capable of handling large aircraft such as the Boeing 777; new taxiways and aprons; a passenger terminal with capacity for 700,000 travellers annually, and a cargo terminal designed to handle 25,000 tonnes per annum. It will also have a new control tower, access roads, car parking and modern safety systems.
Of the total programme cost of €157.76 million, the Bank will provide a loan of €141.15 million, and a €14.84-million loan will come from the African Development Fund, the Group’s concessional lending arm. The Government of Uganda will provide an in-kind contribution of €1.77 million (sh7.4b).
“This project is about more than an airport. It is about connecting people to opportunities, opening new markets for businesses, supporting tourism, and strengthening Uganda’s role as a regional trade and logistics hub,” said Mike Salawou, the Bank Group’s Director for the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department.
Located roughly 450 kilometres from the capital Kampala, Arua is a strategic gateway to Uganda’s West Nile region, and neighbouring markets in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, limited domestic and international air travel facilities within this region have hindered its growth.
The UADP programme aims at improving domestic and regional connectivity through safer, more efficient and climate-resilient aviation infrastructure.
It will involve the construction of a 3.5-kilometre paved runway capable of handling large aircraft such as the Boeing 777; new taxiways and aprons; a passenger terminal with capacity for 700,000 travellers annually, and a cargo terminal designed to handle 25,000 tonnes per annum. It will also have a new control tower, access roads, car parking and modern safety systems.
Of the total programme cost of €157.76 million, the Bank will provide a loan of €141.15 million, and a €14.84-million loan will come from the African Development Fund, the Group’s concessional lending arm. The Government of Uganda will provide an in-kind contribution of €1.77 million (sh7.4b).
“This project is about more than an airport. It is about connecting people to opportunities, opening new markets for businesses, supporting tourism, and strengthening Uganda’s role as a regional trade and logistics hub,” said Mike Salawou, the Bank Group’s Director for the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department.
The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, which operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Works and Transport, will implement the project.
The Authority’s Director General, Fred Bamwesigye, called the airport a “significant development for Uganda, which will strengthen aviation infrastructure and regional connectivity, and is expected to stimulate social and economic transformation for the region.”
“Arua Airport is currently the second busiest in the country after Entebbe International Airport and has immense growth potential,” Bamwesigye said, adding, “The airport will also serve as an alternative to Entebbe International Airport during emergencies. We are highly grateful to the African Development Bank for its invaluable partnership and support in this transformative project.”
Arua, the regional capital of the West Nile sub-region, is endowed with mineral wealth and has strong potential in agriculture, tourism, culture, trade, regional integration and logistics.
More than half a million people in Arua City and District are set to benefit directly from the programme, while the wider West Nile region, home to more than 3.3 million people, will gain from improved transport and investment opportunities.
The programme is expected to create about 500 direct jobs during construction and more than 1,400 indirect jobs in tourism, agriculture and trade. It will also provide skills training for at least 100 young people, including women, in engineering, construction and equipment operations.
The initiative is aligned with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy for 2024-2033 as well the transport and infrastructure priority area of the Uganda Country Strategy Paper 2022-2026, which emphasises developing well-maintained, quality and sustainable infrastructure to improve market access and competitiveness to bolster industrialisation.
Kimaka Airport upgrade
The decision by AfDB to fund the upgrade of Arua airport comes hardly one week after government announced it had completed the upgrade of Jinja's Kimaka Aerodrome, which will now act as a major boost to, among others, the tourism businesses within Jinja city and its environs and also make travel easier.
Eng. Fredrick Daniel Tuliraba, the UCAA Chief Civil Engineer, in a guided tour with the New Vision at the facility, said it will now take visitors less than 20 minutes to travel to Jinja.
He said the construction works for the upgrading of the Jinja Aerodrome at Kimaka – four kilometres from the city – were now complete.
The upgrade, a joint venture between Gofar Investment and MJ Engineers and Contractors, has been positioned as a transformative one that should bolster Uganda’s infrastructure, enhance tourism and improve regional connectivity.
Tuliraba said the upgrade is particularly important for Jinja owing to the metropolis’s unique positioning right at The Source of the Nile, the point where the world’s longest river flows out of Lake Victoria – Africa’s largest freshwater lake.
The Authority’s Director General, Fred Bamwesigye, called the airport a “significant development for Uganda, which will strengthen aviation infrastructure and regional connectivity, and is expected to stimulate social and economic transformation for the region.”
“Arua Airport is currently the second busiest in the country after Entebbe International Airport and has immense growth potential,” Bamwesigye said, adding, “The airport will also serve as an alternative to Entebbe International Airport during emergencies. We are highly grateful to the African Development Bank for its invaluable partnership and support in this transformative project.”
Arua, the regional capital of the West Nile sub-region, is endowed with mineral wealth and has strong potential in agriculture, tourism, culture, trade, regional integration and logistics.
More than half a million people in Arua City and District are set to benefit directly from the programme, while the wider West Nile region, home to more than 3.3 million people, will gain from improved transport and investment opportunities.
The programme is expected to create about 500 direct jobs during construction and more than 1,400 indirect jobs in tourism, agriculture and trade. It will also provide skills training for at least 100 young people, including women, in engineering, construction and equipment operations.
The initiative is aligned with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy for 2024-2033 as well the transport and infrastructure priority area of the Uganda Country Strategy Paper 2022-2026, which emphasises developing well-maintained, quality and sustainable infrastructure to improve market access and competitiveness to bolster industrialisation.
Kimaka Airport upgrade
The decision by AfDB to fund the upgrade of Arua airport comes hardly one week after government announced it had completed the upgrade of Jinja's Kimaka Aerodrome, which will now act as a major boost to, among others, the tourism businesses within Jinja city and its environs and also make travel easier.
Eng. Fredrick Daniel Tuliraba, the UCAA Chief Civil Engineer, in a guided tour with the New Vision at the facility, said it will now take visitors less than 20 minutes to travel to Jinja.
He said the construction works for the upgrading of the Jinja Aerodrome at Kimaka – four kilometres from the city – were now complete.
The upgrade, a joint venture between Gofar Investment and MJ Engineers and Contractors, has been positioned as a transformative one that should bolster Uganda’s infrastructure, enhance tourism and improve regional connectivity.
Tuliraba said the upgrade is particularly important for Jinja owing to the metropolis’s unique positioning right at The Source of the Nile, the point where the world’s longest river flows out of Lake Victoria – Africa’s largest freshwater lake.