Juba-Nadapal highway edges closer to border
Engineer Peter Atem says Rhino Construction is edging closer to the Kenyan frontier on the pivotal Juba-Nadapal highway, setting a faster rhythm for South Sudan’s post-conflict reintegration.
Launch date and current location
Launched on 4 September 2025 by the National Ministry of Roads and Bridges, the 410-kilometre corridor is now advancing beyond Labalwa toward Kiyala Payam in Eastern Equatoria State (Eye Radio).
Two-month timeline in sight
Atem forecasts that, with uninterrupted fuel, graders and compactors could touch the border within two months, a timeline local administrators describe as ambitious yet attainable.
Fuel shortages challenge progress
Fuel scarcity, intensified by regional supply shocks, remains the prime bottleneck; Governor Louis Lobong’s emergency consignments have kept the diesel drums rolling but stocks are thin.
Targeting the toughest segments
Rhino Construction is strategically tackling rough segments first and bypassing serviceable stretches, a cost-efficient tactic that concentrates manpower, blades and spares where deterioration is acute.
Citizens invited to fuel the mission
In radio appeals, Atem invites MPs, traders and residents to donate fuel, parts or even meals, insisting that “progress is a collective effort,” and framing infrastructure as a civic rather than commercial mission.
Economic and humanitarian payoff
Analysts argue the sealed road will slash travel time to the Mombasa port, lower commodity prices in Juba, and, crucially, offer thousands of South Sudanese refugees a safer route home once security along the corridor stabilises.
Link to continental trade goals
Regional planners also view the highway as a spine for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor, an initiative that aligns with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s push for seamless cross-border logistics.
Solidarity keeps wheels turning
For now, progress hinges less on machinery than on communal solidarity; every litre of diesel pledged in Kiyala echoes a wider aspiration for connection and growth across East Africa.