The Road Network

The Northern Corridor road networks cover approximately 12,707 Km in length distributed as follows: 567 Km in Burundi; 4,162 Km in DRC; 1,328.6 Km in Kenya, 1,039.4 Km in Rwanda; 3,543 Km in South Sudan and 2,072 Km in Uganda.

According to data collected in the Member States;

Kenya: 88 % of roads are in good condition, paved and tarmac with an average IRI of below 2.9 mm/m. Only 8 % of the roads are in fair condition while 4 % are in bad condition.

Rwanda: most roads in Rwanda about 93 % are in good condition. The remaining 7 % are under rehabilitation and widening of lanes as well as upgrading works from earth to paved roads.

Burundi: 41% of the roads are in good condition; 41% in fair condition and 18% (93 Km) of the road are still under poor condition.

DRC: 42 % (1,752 Km) of the road condition in DRC is in a good state, 29 % (1,213 km) in fair condition and 29 % an equivalent of 1,207 km is in a bad state. The majority of the roads in DRC are two lanes with a road width of 3 to 3.5 Metres.

South Sudan: A majority, at 95 %, of the corridor road in South Sudan is in bad condition, and 5% is in fair condition.

Road transport routes
Key transit transport routes are from Mombasa to Bujumbura (the South-West terminus) covering about 2,000 km of road distance, and the Mombasa - Kisangani route which stretches for about 3,000 km. The bulk of imports and exports destined to and from countries in the Corridor are transported through either of these transit routes.

From Kenya to Uganda, the Mombasa - Malaba - Kampala road (1170 km) is preferred due to the relative good quality of the network and availability of social amenities en route. The alternative route is Mombasa - Kisumu - Busia - Kampala.

Average Transit time from Mombasa to Kampala in 2016 was 5 days. View the daitails for Average Transit Time from Mombasa to various destinations

From Uganda to Rwanda, the principal routes are Kampala - Kagitumba - Kigali and Kampala - Gatuna - Kigali; Bujumbura in Burundi is reached from Kampala through Rwanda. Bukavu, Goma and Kisangani are reached from Rwanda and Uganda as well.

The Northern Corridor Secretariat is advocating for a much shorter route from Mombasa to Kigali and Bujumbura via Voi-Taveta/Holili-Arusha-Siginda Road; 1,650Km to Kigali & 1,957 Km to Bujumbura.