Uganda signed a contract with Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi on Tuesday to construct a 272-kilometre railway line.
The agreement was formalised by Uganda’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Bageya Waiswa, and Yapi Merkezi’s Vice Chairman, Erdem Arioglu.
Perez Wamburu, the coordinator of Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway project, stated that this contract is for the first section of a planned 1,700-kilometre electric railway network. The initial segment will cost 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), with construction set to begin in November.
The railway, running from Uganda’s capital Kampala to Malaba on the Kenyan border, will connect Uganda’s rail system with Kenya’s, providing access to the Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa. The project aims to boost trade and reduce transport costs, Waiswa said during the signing ceremony.
Uganda will fund the project through a combination of its own resources and loans from export credit organisations. The railway is expected to be completed in 48 months once construction begins.
This agreement follows Uganda’s termination of a previous contract with China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC), which had been unable to secure the necessary financing for the project.
Uganda has since partnered with Yapi Merkezi, which is already involved in a similar railway project in Tanzania.