The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has announced that it has prequalified four bidding teams to proceed to the second phase of the tender for the Kampala - Jinja Expressway (KJE) road project.

The project will deliver a 95km expressway, set to revolutionize transport in the Eastern region of the country and improve trade across the East African Community states. The total estimated investment is US$1.55 billion.

In September, UNRA received eight responses to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the project. The following four bidding teams have now been deemed suitably qualified to submit proposals:

1. China Communications Construction Company Ltd and China First Highway Engineering Company Ltd;
2. KJ Connect (led by Vinci Concessions)
3. Strabag, Ictas, Egis, AIIF3 and STOA
4. CCKS (comprised of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd, China Wu Yi Co. Ltd, Korea Expressway Corporation and SK Engineering and Construction)

The timeline of the tender set out in the RFQ scheduled the submission of final bids in May 2019, with the aim of achieving commercial close with the successful bidder in November 2019.

The selected private partner will design, construct, operate and maintain the limited access tolled expressway, financing US$800 million of the total cost. Various international institutions have already committed to supporting the project, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Union and Agence Francaise de Developpment.