Four East African Community member states this week joined the Kenya and Uganda joint project to develop a modern railway on the Northern Corridor.
However, the lack of funding remains a persistent issue for the joint standard gauge railway (SGR) that ends in Naivasha, located in Kenya’s Central Rift region.
On Friday, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan became part of the SGR Cluster Joint Ministerial Committee and pledged to collaborate with development partners to secure funding for the railway project, aiming to facilitate the transportation of goods along the Northern Corridor.
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At the gathering in Mombasa, infrastructure ministers recognized the fundraising hurdles that the project has encountered over the past five years.
In July 2023, Kenya and Uganda revived the near-dead project to build the SGR railway between them but failed to convince financiers the viability of the project.
The two governments agreed to seek funding through loans or public-private partnerships to extend the railway from Naivasha to Kampala, with plans to further extend it to Rwanda and South Sudan.
They aimed to finalize joint resource mobilization by December 2023 for the Naivasha-Malaba line, then onward to Kampala and from Kampala to Kasese-Mpondwe. Additionally, a branch line from Bihanga to Mirama hills was proposed to transport goods from Mombasa to Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
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Both governments had engaged with financiers from Europe and the Middle East who expressed interest in investing in the project conceived about a decade ago. However, funding was contingent on a joint bid, which proved challenging for both countries.
In January 2023, Uganda signed a memorandum with Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi, offering hope for the commencement of the Malaba to Kampala phase, pending progress from Naivasha.
On Friday, Uganda’s Minister of Works and Transport Fred Byamukama said they are in the final stages of the negotiations with a proposed contractor, who is expected to sign the contract this month.
“It was a challenge to do the project piecemeal, we cannot have SGR in Malaba to Kampala if Naivasha-Malaba is not complete. That is why we are seeing funds to ensure the sections are done simultaneously,” said Mr Byamukama, adding that partner sates are pursuing resource mobilisation as a project.
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen said that the other countries joining the cluster will increase Kampala and Nairobi’s bargaining power among donors, who have been evaluating viability of the project for many years.
To ensure the connection between Mombasa and Kinshasa, the ministers committed to assent and ratify the existing SGR Protocol and the SGR Tripartite Agreement by the DRC. The five partner states agreed to establish a framework that facilitates cross-border maintenance of the SGR assets and facilities.
“Kenya and Uganda have completed harmonisation of the technical specifications and standards. Rwanda hopes to join framework between Uganda and Yapi Merkezi, to update of feasibility study of Mirama Hills-Kigali section, which will make the project more viable,” Mr Murkomen said.
He added that Kenya has estimated the cost of constructing the line from Naivasha to Malaba at $5.3 billion.
Source:East African News
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