The Ugandan government has broken ground on what it says will be the country’s first climate-resilient, gender-responsive cross-border market — a project meant to shield traders from seasonal flooding while boosting commerce along one of East Africa’s busiest frontiers.
The UGX 41 billion ($11 million) development in Elegu Town Council, Amuru District, sits at the northern tip of Uganda, just across the Unyama River from South Sudan’s Nimule border post. Officials say it will replace the open-air market that for years has been inundated by floodwaters, displacing vendors and cutting off trade.
Funded by Denmark’s international development agency (DANIDA) and the European Union, and implemented by TradeMark Africa, the market is designed to withstand extreme weather linked to climate change.
“This market has been designed to contain recurrent floods and the impacts of climate change caused by the bursting of the Unyama River,” First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga said at Wednesday’s launch. The flooding, she noted, has forced traders into repeated losses.
Kadaga, who is also Uganda’s minister for East African Community Affairs, said the facility will serve not only Uganda and South Sudan but other regional economies, giving small-scale traders a safer and more permanent space to work.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, in remarks read by Kadaga, framed the project as both an economic and social investment. “Let us build a market that stands not just as concrete and steel, but as a symbol of transformation,” Nabbanja said. “A place where trade strides, where women and persons with disabilities find space and voice, and where communities learn to accommodate and support each other.”
The market’s design incorporates flood-mitigation measures, raising the entire structure 2.5 meters above known flood levels and adding reinforced drainage, permeable paving and stormwater basins. It will also feature solar power, rainwater harvesting, cyclone ventilation, and facilities including vendor stalls, sanitation blocks, storage, banking halls, a day care center and vehicle loading bays.
Officials say women — who make up the majority of vendors in Elegu — stand to benefit most. Danish Ambassador to Uganda, Signe Winding Albjerg, said the project will help traders adapt to climate challenges while expanding opportunities for cross-border commerce.
EU delegation team leader Sanne Willems cited a 2023 scoping study that found 80 percent of Elegu’s vendors were women who could not reach markets in South Sudan. “We were at the border post, we didn’t see many trucks,” Willems said. “We mainly saw people walking across, and especially women traders.”
Despite the optimism, local leaders warned that infrastructure gaps could blunt the market’s impact. Amuru Resident District Commissioner Geoffrey Osborn Oceng pointed to the poor state of the Gulu-Nimule highway and drainage systems in Elegu Town Council.
The project is expected to take 24 months, with construction by Ambitious Construction Company Ltd. TradeMark Africa says the architects modeled climate data for the next three decades to make sure the facility remains functional in the face of extreme weather.
If successful, Albjerg said, the Elegu market could become a model for other border towns across the East African region.
