AfDB Commits $301m to Refurbish Kampala-Malaba Meter Gauge Railway
The railroad line connects Kenya's seaside city of Mombasa with Kampala, the region's capital, via the Northern Corridor of the East African Community.
AfDB Commits $301m to Refurbish Kampala-Malaba Meter Gauge Railway
The railroad line connects Kenya’s seaside city of Mombasa with Kampala, the region’s capital, via the Northern Corridor of the East African Community.
In a region rich in agricultural land, minerals, and petroleum extraction and industries, the East African Community Railway Rehabilitation Support Project will improve train services and reduce transportation costs.
The African Development Bank and its concessional lending window, the African Development Fund, are responsible for the loans and grants that make up the funding that the Group’s Board of Directors approved on Wednesday.
Between Malaba and Mukono, there are 265 km of MGR tracks that must be immediately rehabilitated. These tracks include the ones that go to Port Bell on Lake Victoria and Jinja Pier.
For the railroad workforce, the project includes training and skill development. Additionally, it will incorporate natural solutions.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, stated that “railway lines are vital to opening up the heartland of Africa, where there is great agricultural and economic potential” during the Board’s approval.
He said that connecting markets and other crucial logistics hubs to Special Agricultural Processing Zones, which are headquartered in rural areas and are supported by the African Development Bank, will be made possible by train lines.
Rail lines shouldn’t just link ports to mines, according to Adesina. He continued by saying that it is encouraging to see African governments funding rail transportation. The Ugandan parliament and cabinet supported the project.
The Kampala-Malaba MGR travels along the multi-modal Northern Corridor, which connects Mombasa, Kenya, with landlocked Uganda and its neighbors, including Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The corridor also connects to the inland waterways of Lake Victoria via the sea.
Despite the perception that rail is a safer and more cheap alternative to the road, only 7% of traffic along the northern corridor is now transported by rail due to inadequate infrastructure. Transport expenses in the corridor are consequently relatively expensive.
Nearly 1.2 million people, roughly 40% of whom are women, are anticipated to directly benefit from the project.
The initiative is in line with the East African Community’s Vision 2050, which intends to enhance trade and make East Africa an internationally competitive upper-middle-income region, as well as Uganda’s Vision 2040 National Strategy.
The East African Community Railway Rehabilitation Support Project also supports three of the High 5 operating priorities of the African Development Bank, including Improve the Quality of Life for Africans and Integrate Africa, Industrialize Africa, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
APO Group is the distributor for the African Development Bank Group.
