The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors has approved Euro 155.99 million (about UGX650 billion) to transform Arua Aerodrome into an international-standard facility, signaling the country’s clearest statement yet that air transport will anchor its next phase of growth.
For a landlocked nation pursuing the Tenfold Growth Strategy 2025-2040, the funding could not have come at a better time.
Uganda’s Agro-Industrialization, Tourism, Minerals, and Science, Technology and Innovation pillars, the ATMS framework guiding national policy, depend on moving goods and people quickly across borders.
As roads and rail alone cannot carry that weight, aviation is the obvious alternative.
Arua makes the case plainly. Sitting roughly 450 kilometres from Kampala, it is the farthest major city from the capital and the gateway to Uganda’s West Nile region, with direct links to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The region’s mineral wealth, agriculture and tourism potential have long outpaced its infrastructure.
A 3.5-kilometre runway able to receive Boeing 777 aircraft, a 700,000-passenger terminal, a 25,000-tonne cargo facility and a new control tower will close that gap, giving farmers a faster route for perishable exports and giving the 65,000 refugees and aid agencies working in the area a more reliable link to the rest of the country.
The AfDB funding is part of Phase 1 of the Uganda Airports Development Programme, which targets the country’s some of the 40+ aerodromes scattered across the country.
Of the Euro 157.76 million total cost, the Bank Group is providing Euro 141.15 million through an African Development Bank loan and Euro 14.84 million through the concessional African Development Fund, with Kampala contributing Euro 1.77 million in kind.
Mike Salawou, the Bank Group’s Director for Infrastructure and Urban Development, framed the investment in human terms: “This project is about more than an airport.
It is about connecting people to opportunity, opening new markets for businesses, supporting tourism, and strengthening Uganda’s role as a regional trade and logistics hub.”
Better times ahead
The airport at Arua will transform the region economically.
Currently, domestic flights are quite expensive due to low demand but the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) is working towards large-carrier domestic flights in the near future.
Fred Bamwesigye, the UCAA Director General, was equally direct, calling Arua “a significant development for Uganda” that will “stimulate social and economic transformation for the region” while doubling as an emergency alternative to Entebbe International Airport.
Arua does not stand alone. It will join Kabalega International Airport in Hoima, currently nearing completion – built to serve the Albertine Graben oil fields and now positioned to support tourism and trade with the DR Congo and Rwanda.
Also in the mix is the planned Mbarara International Airport at Nyakisharara, a 21-square-kilometre project backed by the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce of the UAE and cleared by presidential endorsement in February.
Alongside planned upgrades at Pakuba and Kasese, these projects point to a national strategy rather than a single ribbon-cutting.
More than half a million people in Arua City and District stand to benefit directly, with the wider West Nile region of 3.3 million people gaining from the ripple effects.
About 500 direct construction jobs and 1,400 indirect jobs in tourism, agriculture and trade are expected, alongside skills training for at least 100 young people.
For a region long defined by distance over bumpy roads, Arua’s world-class runway is about to shorten it.
