The government of Uganda has inked in a deal with a Turkish company, Yapi Merkezi to develop the standard gauge railway (SGR). The move marks terminat
The government of Uganda has inked in a deal with a Turkish company, Yapi Merkezi to develop the standard gauge railway (SGR). The move marks termination of contract with Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).
The Uganda Standard Gauge Railway is a planned railway system linking the country to the neighboring countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, as part of East African Railway Master Plan. The new Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), is intended to replace the old, inefficient metre-gauge railway system.
Uganda SGR
The 273km line will run from Malaba to Kampala. The line, starting from the Malaba border post between Uganda and Kenya, was expected to cost $2.2 billion, but the Chinese financiers did not fund the project after casting doubt on Kenya’s SGR reaching the border to link with Uganda’s and making the project viable.
According to SGR Project Coordinator Eng Perez Wamburu, Yapi Merkezi is expected to submit a response to the government’s request for a construction proposal within the next few weeks, paving the way for procurement. Financing model for the project will also change with the new contract. President Yoweri Museveni last year directed his officials to open up the financing of the SGR to the world’s financial capitals, with London and UKEF as the first call in September 2022,
Mr Wamburu revealed that Uganda’s Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka was prompted to review the contract with CHEC after it became apparent that China Exim Bank – Kampala’s main infrastructure projects financier of the last decade – had grown cold feet on bankrolling the SGR.