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Uganda: The end of the runway? Kabalega airport fabled finish line
Uganda's Kabalega International Airport (KIA) has featured in several budget and State of the Nation addresses, but it has remained at 95 percent completion, and the government now says that the facility will begin operations within the next financial year.
While presenting the budget for the 2025/26 financial year, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija reported that the 'operationalisation of Kabalega International Airport' is one of the 'priority interventions' but did not provide more details.
Mr Kasaija echoed President Yoweri Museveni's statement during the State of the Nation Address on June 5 that the airport is near completion, as part of the requisite infrastructure that the Ugandan government has invested in to support commercial oil production.
But the project has been stuck 'at 95 percent completion' for over two years, lacking an air traffic control tower and other infrastructure, partly due to modifications in the design for a mobile air traffic control tower, which was dropped midway.
The switch to a fixed tower required a redesign of this aspect, which sent the project contractor back to the drawing board, causing delays, according to Amos Muriisa, the contractor's spokesperson.
In the next financial year, the government has allocated Ush6.92 trillion ($1.91 billion) for integrated transport infrastructure, namely roads, bridges, railways, water transport, and air transport, to undertake interventions that include completion of the airport.
Two years ago, the contractor, SBC Uganda Ltd, a joint venture of Israeli-British firms, Shikun and Binui International-SBI, and Colas Ltd, sought to avoid delays and proposed handing over the project to the government, with a plan for the airport's air traffic control to be handled by Entebbe International Airport.
Construction of Uganda's second international airport began in April 2018 and was expected to be completed in 48 months as part of the support infrastructure for oil and gas in the Lake Albert region.
Its completion was planned to coincide with the surge in oil and gas logistics, as oil companies were preparing to ship in heavy equipment ahead of launching field development works at the upstream oil and gas projects Tilenga and Kingfisher, as well as midstream operations of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop).
But, as the airport fell behind the timelines, the oil majors shipped all equipment, including four drilling rigs and pipes, by road from Mombasa to the drilling sites in the Albertine Graben.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation launched well spudding at its Kingfisher oilfield on January 24, 2023, while TotalEnergies began drilling six months later at two of the three drilling sites of the Tilenga project.
Funded to the tune of €264 million ($309 million) through loans from the UK Export Finance and Standard Chartered Bank, officials also blame the airport's slow progress on funding shortfalls, as the government delayed disbursing additional funds for the project.
Mr Muriisa said that Covid-19 restrictions disrupted the pace of construction, as the contractor was compelled to halve the workforce, per Ministry of Health directives.
The airport was intended to support Uganda's oil and gas upstream and midstream operations by facilitating the transportation of heavy equipment to the oil-rich Lake Albert region, but it is now far behind the oilfield developments it was expected to service.
Industry executives argue that Kabalega remains a critical project for the sector.
The airport has a 3.5km runway, 45-metre shoulders, a cargo terminal, and an apron that can hold four large Antonov-sized aircraft simultaneously, but the critical air traffic control tower remains the missing link.
Other infrastructure to support commercial oil production includes 700 kilometres of tarmac roads that have been constructed in the Albertine region, and the export pipeline, currently at 58 percent.
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