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.
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.
Construction will start in August, said Abdallah Sultan Al Owais, chairman of the Sharjah business body.
Passengers flying from Jaipur to destinations in the United States will benefit from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility at Abu Dhabi, ensuring a hassle-free immigration process. The new route is expected to attract more visitors to the UAE, allowing them to experience the exceptional facilities at Zayed International Airport’s Terminal A, Etihad’s new home.
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 co-operate in investment and trade”, Museveni, who witnessed the signing, said in a post on X.
