Uganda has signed a contract with Turkish construction company Yapi Merkezi to build a 272-kilometre (169 miles) railway line as part of its efforts to enhance regional trade, an official announced on Monday.
Perez Wamburu, the coordinator of Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway project, said this agreement marks the first phase of a planned 1,700-kilometre electric railway network, with the initial segment costing €2.7 billion ($3 billion). Construction is set to begin in November.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Bageya Waiswa, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, emphasized the project’s potential to boost trade and reduce transportation costs. Uganda will finance the project through a mix of its own funds and export credit arrangements, with a completion timeline of 48 months.
This rail line will link the Ugandan capital Kampala to Malaba, a key border town with Kenya, thereby connecting Uganda to Kenya’s rail network and the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.
Uganda had previously signed a deal in 2015 with China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to carry out the project, contingent on securing funding from the Chinese government. After years of unsuccessful negotiations, Uganda terminated the deal last year and turned to Yapi Merkezi, which is already working on a similar project in neighboring Tanzania.
