South Sudan highway road link project planned

South Sudan is to benefit from a new 1,000km highway link (Image courtesy of © Fintastique | Dreamstime.com)

A major highway project is being planned for South Sudan. The work will see the construction of a 1,000km highway link. The contract to build the highway will be carried out by an Indonesian firm, Waskita Karya. Construction of the highway is expected to cost US$1.75 billion. The work will be split into four separate sections.

Building this new highway will help improve transport in South Sudan, providing a much-needed boost for the country’s economy. Until 2012, there were no surfaced roads in the territory and the majority of South Sudan’s existing roads are in poor condition and inadequate for the country’s needs. The building of new road links with Kenya and Uganda are helping improve international trade also, although the construction of the key link to the latter neighbour was delayed in 2020 due to problems with the quality of the work being carried out and a dispute with the contractor.