The Ministry of Finance in Uganda invited Royal Haskoning to conduct a study to investigate why the stakeholders believe that the unit costs for road construction and maintenance works are higher in Uganda than elsewhere in East and Central Africa, and to develop strategies to lower them to more acceptable levels. The project was primarily done for the Government of Uganda, but was financed by the European Union, a major source for funding road construction.

The outcome of the study showed that the reason for Uganda’s high unit costs for road maintenance and construction was due to several factors, such as importation of materials, high fuel prices (for transporting materials), lack of competition and government regulations as well as loop holes in project contracts.

In order for the government to lower the unit costs, Royal Haskoning came up with a long list of guidelines on how to organize the system; for example, allowing for more competition, more project-based insurance, and technical specifications should be well defined in tender documents.

For this project, Royal Haskoning developed a system for determining the unit rates for a traditional BoQ (bill of quantities) for all future road works in Uganda, outlining how much everything should cost (materials, labor, man-hours, etc.) and compared road unit costs with selected neighboring countries, as well as a system for determining and publishing a road construction price index.

In addition, Royal Haskoning promoted strategies to address high unit costs, and provided consultancy services, which included cost estimate, tender pricing, and completion costs.

Hans van Oene
T +31 (0)24 3284 117
E Hans van Oene