Elegu


Elegu is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda. It sits across the international border from the town of Nimule, South Sudan.

Location

The town is in Amuru District, Acholi sub-region, at the international border with South Sudan, approximately, by road, north of Gulu, the largest city in the sub-region. Elegu is about, north of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.
The coordinates of the town are 3°33'59.0"N, 32°04'14.0"E Elegu is located at an average elevation of, above sea level.

Overview

Elegu was established in 2012. It sits across the Uganda-South Sudan border from the much larger city of Nimule. Before 2012, the customs and immigration functions on the Ugandan side were done in Bibia,, to the south, along the Gulu–Nimule Road. The border crossing was converted into a one-stop border crossing, between 2015 and 2018. Construction was initially budgeted to cost US$7.1 million.
As November 2018, the border crossing was handling Ugandan exports valued at UShs225.2 billion annually. South Sudan exports to Uganda at the same time were valued at USh1.2 billion annually.

Population

In 2012, the population of Elegu was estimated at 5,000 people.

Points of interest

Using US$5 million funding sourced from Trademark East Africa, the border crossing on the South Sudan side was under improvement to a one-stop border crossing, as of May 2018. At that time, work on the Elegu side had been completed, but was awaiting completion of the work on the Nimule side, in order to become functional. The funds were used to construct a customs and immigration building, a parking yard, an examination shed, access roads and drainage channels.
In November 2018, the OSBP on the Uganda side was officially commissioned by officials from Uganda and South Sudan. The facility was constructed at a cost of US$6.6 million, with funding from Trade Mark East Africa, and others, including Department for International Development.