Workers on industrial ship.

USAID East Africa Trade and Investment Hub

Perhaps among the greatest impediments to trade and economic growth is poor infrastructure. The lagging global economy and a spike in energy prices have put enormous pressure on public budgets in many USAID partner countries, stalling investments in new infrastructure and preventing needed maintenance.  We finance the design and construction of energy, roads, communications and water infrastructure, as well as schools and health facilities in more than 60 countries. Across the continent of Africa, we work to build new pathways to growth. 

Examples of our efforts in infrastructure in Africa include: 

• In South Sudan, USAID helped build the Juba-Nimule Road, the largest infrastructure project in South Sudan and the first paved highway in the country. The road links Juba to Uganda, and to the Port of Mombasa in Kenya.
• In Ethiopia, USAID is working in nine districts in the Amhara region to increase access to clean water as part of USAID’s Food for Peace program.
• In Uganda, where, according to WHO/UNICEF estimates, only 34% of urban populations have access to proper sanitation facilities, USAID signed a cooperation agreement with Germany to design and implement sanitation plans in four northern Uganda towns.