In this paper, we study the relation between the uniform Roe algebra and the uniform quasi-local algebra associated to a metric space of bounded geometry. In the process, we introduce a weakening of the notion of expanders, called asymptotic expanders. We show that being a sequence of asymptotic expanders is a coarse property under certain connectedness condition, and it implies non-uniformly local amenability. Moreover, we also analyse some $C^*$-algebraic properties of uniform quasi-local algebras. In particular, we show that a uniform quasi-local algebra is nuclear if and only if the underlying metric space has Property A.