Uganda signs deal with Turkish firm to build railway line
The Ugandan government on Monday signed a contract with Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi to build a 272-kilometre section of railway, linking the capital Kampala to the border town of Malaba.
The line is part of a 1,700 kilometre electric line project and is estimated to cost about 3 billion U.S. dollars. The railway is expected to join up at the border with another line from the Kenyan town of Naivasha, and link the interior to the port city of Mombasa.
According to Uganda’s Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi, the project will take four years to complete.
Ggoobi also said the railway will transform the Ugandan route from the second most expensive route in the world to a highly competitive trade route in the region, and reduce cargo export costs by half.
“We are pushing to improve the structure of the economy. The SGR is one of those projects that feed into this agenda.”
Uganda’s Minister of Works and Transport, Edward Wamala, expressed confidence in a seamless connection between the Ugandan and Kenyan lines.
“Our Kenyan neighbours are also working on making the connection from Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba. We are confident that the timeliness agreed on with our Kenyan borders will be met regarding the Naivasha-Malaba connection.”
Wamala said that the project included a 40 percent local content strategy and urged the Turkish firm to fully collaborate with local contractors.
“Ugandans have supplied material during projects such as construction of Nile bridge. Make use of them so that they have a feel and benefit from the project.”
