Kampala — The construction of a 350 million U.S. dollar Chinese funded expressway that will link Uganda's capital Kampala to Entebbe International Airport was launched here on Wednesday.

The construction of the 37 km four lane expressway was launched by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who thanked China for providing aid that has no political conditionalities.

He said Uganda needs to borrow a leaf from China's model of development which is void of tribal, religious or sectarian sentiments.

"I would like to salute you because your aid does not have political conditionalities. The Chinese support is not like a poor man's support where they want gratitude all the time and use aid to create subservience instead of independence," he said, comparing China's aid to that provided by Western countries.

The funds to construct the expressway, the second of its kind in Eastern Africa, are from a preferential loan from the Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of China.

Zhu Hongjie, Vice President of China EXIM Bank, said the project would boost Uganda's economic development.

"This project once completed will greatly improve the transport infrastructure between Kampala and Entebbe. And will also play a positive role in promoting logistics, resource exploration, investment and capital attraction and industrial restructuring along the expressway," he said.

"This in turn will accelerate urbanization process of neighboring regions and facilitate the social economic development of Uganda," he added.

China Communications Construction Company will construct the road for a period of five years.

- Xinhua