A bold new chapter in East African infrastructure and eco-tourism is unfolding with the construction of a state-of-the-art airport situated on the edge of a national park teeming with iconic wildlife—including lions, giraffes, and elephants and is expected to accommodate millions of passengers annually.
According express.co.uk, work on the new Kidepo International Airport in Uganda was scheduled to begin last year, following an announcement of a pact between the country’s government and a business association from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to build it.
The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry will construct the transport hub, which is expected to have a 3.6-kilometre (2.2-mile) runway and a terminal capable of accommodating 2 million passengers per year, according to Gulf Today. When completed, it will become the nation’s third-largest airport, behind Entebbe International Airport and Kabalega International Airport. The airport will be located in Kaabong District, outside the country’s famous Kidepo National Park, which covers 1,442 square kilometers (556.7 square miles) of the Narus Valley.
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The vast park borders South Sudan to the northwest as well as Kenya just 5km (3.1 miles) to the east according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). The remote wilderness area is a major tourist attraction in the country, home to more than 80 species of mammals and at least 475 bird species, the UWA reported back in 2018.
Creatures that live in the park include lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and other big game, as per Reuters. Tourists can be led on guided safaris to see the area’s rich array of wildlife.
There is currently only a small airport nearby managed by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, with an airstrip serving the park and surrounding areas. The Ugandan government is looking to boost tourism to the area, with hotels set to be built within the park as part of the project to allow more travellers to visit. A completion date doesn’t appear to have been announced yet, and the estimated cost of the project wasn’t shared when the pact was unveiled last year. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who witnessed the signing of the agreement, said in a post on X that it was “a sign of the deepening relations with our Gulf partners and another opportunity to co-operate in investment and trade”.
The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country, including in Northeast Uganda where the park and airport project are. The Foreign Office cites the risks to foreigners, which include an “increased security presence in north-east Uganda in the Karamoja sub-region (districts of Kaabong, Kotido, Abim, Moroto and Nakapiripirit)” because of cattle theft, and deadly robberies in districts bordering Karamoja in the Teso and Acholi sub-regions. It also cites the risk of flooding at certain times of the year during rainy seasons.
