As Kenya gears up to commission the first phase of a standard-gauge railway (SGR) line running from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi, the capital city, in June, neighbouring Uganda has closed financial agreements with Exim Bank of China for the construction of its own SGR line, which will run from Kampala, the capital city, to the town of Malaba,
The $2.3-billion 273 km line will run from the Uganda capital city of Kampala to the town of Malaba, on the border with Kenya. It is scheduled for completion in 2020.
“We have finally managed to secure funding for the project and we are ready to begin construction this year,” says SGR project co-coordinator Kasingye Kyamugambi.
The Uganda government has contracted China Harbour Engineering Company to implement the project.
The 427 km first phase of Kenya’s SGR line will be extended under Phase II from Nairobi to Naivasha, a distance of 120 km, at a
cost of $1.3-billion. Eventually, the line will be extended to Malaba, where it will connect with Uganda’s SGR line.
Late last year, the East African neighbours signed an agreement establishing a framework for the joint operations of the line with the aim of achieving seamless operation.
Kenya has contracted China Communications Construction Company to operate the Mombasa–Nairobi line for a period of five years. The East Africa nation has already received six diesel locomotives out of the 56 earmarked for the SGR.
The SGR line is aimed at boosting trade in East Africa by bringing the cost of transporting a 32 t container to Mombasa from $3 500 by road to $1 650 by railway in a one-day trip, compared with the traditional 21 days.
High transport costs have been cited as one of the reasons for the decline in East African regional trade. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s exports to the region dropped from $380.3-million to $275.7-million in the third quarter of 2016.