Africa

Uganda signs deal with UAE to build third international airport

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni (R) witnesses the signing of an MoU with the UAE's Sharjah Chamber of Commerce for the construction of the Kidepo International Airport in Karamoja, on June 21, 2024. (Photo: X/Yoweri Museveni)

By Reuters | Saturday, June 22, 2024

The deal for the East African nation's third such airport expands the UAE's economic footprint beyond its interests in the renewable energy and oil and gas industries.

Uganda has signed a pact with a business association from the United Arab Emirates to build a new international airport, President Yoweri Museveni's office said on Friday.

The deal for the East African nation's third such airport expands the UAE's economic footprint beyond its interests in the renewable energy and oil and gas industries.

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The UAE's Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry will build the airport just outside the Kidepo National Park in the northeast near Uganda's border with Kenya, Museveni's office said in a statement, without giving the cost.

I witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Uganda and the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce led by their Chairman, H.E Abdallah Sultan Al Owais for the construction of Kidepo International Airport in Karamoja. This MoU is a sign of the deepening relations with… pic.twitter.com/ulxaYNpH50
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) June 21, 2024

Construction will start in August, said Abdallah Sultan Al Owais, chairman of the Sharjah business body.

The airport will boost tourism by drawing visitors to the 1,442-sq-km (557-sq-mile) Kidepo park known for lions, giraffes, buffaloes and other big game.

The agreement was "a sign of the deepening relations with our Gulf partners and another opportunity to cooperate in investment and trade," Museveni, who witnessed the signing, said in a post on X.