The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has awarded a consortium of Chinese companies a contract for construction of the US $146m Mpigi-Busega expressway in Kampala.

Gateway Delta Development Holdings, a Mauritius-based real estate developer, plans to invest $20 million to redevelop Metroplex Mall within the next year after acquiring it from its current owner.

Yield Uganda Investment Fund has launched a Shs 34 billion investment fund for agribusinesses in Uganda, a further boost for a sector that does not attract much financing.

Construction works of Terrewode Women’s Community Hospital in Uganda has been completed. Ms Alice Emasu Seruyange, the founder and executive director of TERREWODE announced the reports and said that the hospital is meant to benefit obstetric fistula patients in the country.

A new round of competitive bidding for oil exploration licenses for the Albertine Graben is slated for early next month.

As Uganda prepares for the development and production phases of the oil sector with expected investments worth $20b (Shs74 trillion) over the next five years, local service providers are upbeat, planning on how they will share into the multi-billion cash.

Hoima. A new sugar factory worth $6m (Shs22b) is expected to be commissioned before the end of this year in Hoima District. The factory - Bwendero Sugar Factory – which is owned by businessman John Fitzergerald Magara, will be the 13th in Uganda with an installed cane-crushing capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes per day.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has provided a $5m loan to Tugende, which supports small business lending and expanded transportation in Uganda by providing lease-to-own financing to motorcycle taxi drivers.

Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) is expecting to commence Kenya’s Early Oil Pilot Scheme in early 2018, the company has announced, after the project failed to kick off this year.

The World Bank is set to unlock $600 million for an infrastructure project to facilitate trade in East and Central Africa and provide an alternative route to the sea for Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.