Introduction:
 Formerly
known as Pipeline Road the Kairaba Avenue (map)
was named after the Gambia's former President Sir Dawda Kairaba
Jawara. It runs eastwards from the
Total
petrol station on the Atlantic coast and terminates at the monument at
Westfield in
Serrekunda.
The reason it
used to be called Pipeline Rd. was because it is so long (3 Km).
It transects
Fajara M and F sections. The road itself is lined
with
banks,
restaurants, mobile
telephone companies, fashion shops and
other retail outlets. The year 2006 saw the installation of street
lights running most of the length of this road terminating at the
traffic lights.
 It is the main thoroughfare which runs in a relatively straight
line from the 2 monuments at Westfield Junction up past
Kairaba Shopping Centre in a north easterly direction up to
Mama's Restaurant. On the south east end of Kairaba Avenue is more or
less the Serrekunda / Latrikunda section which has the Post
Office,
Africell, Latrikunda School,
LG Electronics. Once you get past
the Africell headquarters you go past the
Ecobank,
FIB,
Elton Petrol
Station,
Le Palais du Chocolat (sells cakes & ice cream), Photo Express,
La Parisienne (a patisserie retailer) and the new
Access Bank on the
left hand side. About 100 m further down on the right side is the
US
Peace Corps building shortly followed by the
American Embassy which is
opposite
GT Bank.
Still going north east you come across
MP Trading,
Prime Stationery,
St. Mary's Food & Wine and at the traffic light junction there are 2
main landmarks which are the Standard
 Chartered House and the
Shell
Petrol Station at the intersection. After 10am this area is full of billboards,
street peddlers, beggars, fruit sellers, taxis and chancers.
Immediately further down from this point it becomes more relaxed and
quieter as the roadside is full of more residential houses. The first
place you see is the
Kairaba Police Station on the right and further
down to your
 left
is the
Sankung Sillah building (one of the tallest buildings in The
Gambia). Soon you reach the
Bakau New Town junction (Sabena Junction)
on your right which leads you into Bakau New Town and towards
Banjul.
After this junction are a row of shops and restaurants
 including The
Emporium Shopping Mall, The
Butcher's Shop (restaurant),
Weezos, The
Ozio Lounge, Euro Gambia Homes, Pipper's kids clothes shop,
Francisco's and Mama's restaurant. At this point you have hit the end
of the road junction and ahead of you is the
Atlantic Boulevard.
You can get to the ocean by carrying on in a straight line uphill on a
dirt road and down to
Leybato.
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Places To Stay:
There is no real
accommodation
to stay on the
 Kairaba Avenue however, just off the road you can
find
Francisco's Hotel, JD Apartments,
Sermaho Residence,
The Malawi Guesthouse and
Fajara Golf
Apartments.
Property Prices:
 The cost of
an empty plot of
land alone is astronomical as there is heavy
competition from international companies to base their
headquarters along this commercially lucrative thoroughfare. In
2007, a 30 x 30 plot sold for $800,000 and that was not even on
the most sought after section.
Road Conditions:
 It is best
when driving south east during the daytime to avoid Kairaba
Avenue from the traffic lights up to the junction at Westfield.
This is because cars are normally slow moving and almost bumper-to-bumper which
can cause you unnecessary delay. Try and take the back roads
from the Stadium and into Kanifing then go onto one of 3 main
roads: 1 leads into Westfield Junction from the Banjul Highway
and the other 2 lead directly onto Kairaba Avenue.
The
Kairaba Avenue itself has not been resurfaced for many years now
erosion is beginning to take its toll on the edges making it
difficult to get off the road and onto the 'kerb'. Hopefully it
will soon follow other road projects in the Gambia and be re-surfaced.
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