Museveni: Transport infrastructure is key

24 September 2009

Sub-Saharan Africa must urgently improve the road networks in order to develop, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has told the United Nations.

The General Assembly in New York heard how the continent's progress was heavily hindered by the lack of transport infrastructure.

Having spent too long "wandering in the desert of under-development the whole of Africa needs to wake up on this issue and cooperate to find a solution", the president said.

Road networks need to be repaired and railways built, he asserted, drawing contrast between Asia's performance and that of Africa.

In related new, a project for a high-speed train line replacing the nearly obsolete network connecting Nairobi to Mombasa was also unveiled this week by the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC).

The project is due to start in 2011 and would dramatically reduce the travel time between the two capitals.

Golicha Tatache, manager at KRC, told the Guardian's Nairobi correspondent that Kenya's opportunity for competing in the global market depended on the construction of this line.

www.mediacentre.go.ug/details.php
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/20/kenya-high-speed-train-line

Category: Transport