Уганда нацелилась на ноябрь 2026 года на завершение финансирования железной дороги Малаба–Кампала

Uganda is targeting November 2026 to conclude financing arrangements for the €2.7 billion (about Shs12 trillion) Malaba–Kampala Standard Gauge Railway as regional governments move to accelerate a rail network connecting the Indian Ocean coast to Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The timeline was disclosed during the Northern Corridor Integration Projects implementation clusters meeting at Mestil Hotel in Kampala, attended by officials from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan. Richard Kabonero, the head of NCIPs at Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the railway should be treated as a “regional undertaking” whose success depends on coordinated planning and implementation by the partner states. “When I say SGR, it is not Uganda’s SGR. It is really the cluster SGR of the partner states,” Kabonero said. “I want to thank all the officers who have contributed to the progress that we have made.” Uganda signed a €2.7 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract with Turkish firm Yapı Merkezi in October 2024 for the 272-kilometre Malaba–Kampala eastern route. President Yoweri Museveni launched the project in November of the same year. Preparatory works are underway under a limited notice to proceed, including detailed engineering designs, construction camps, access roads, a sleeper factory and batching plants. Uganda has committed €75 million to the early works as it mobilises financing for full-scale construction. The Islamic Development Bank has since approved €650.75 million for the railway, while Citibank has been appointed to help mobilise the remaining funds. Uganda has also held discussions with the World Bank and African Development Bank. Kabonero said the SGR cluster had held technical and ministerial meetings in Kampala from May 24 to 26, 2023, and in Mombasa from April 29 to May 3, 2024, helping the countries harmonise implementation plans and technical standards. The cluster reported that Kenya’s Mombasa–Nairobi–Naivasha section was fully operational, while Kenya and Uganda had harmonised technical standards to enable seamless cross-border railway operations. Kenya has also launched the extension of its SGR through Kisumu to Malaba, which is critical to connecting Uganda’s railway to Mombasa Port. Once completed, Uganda says the Malaba–Kampala railway could reduce cargo transit time from Mombasa to Kampala to one day, compared with the current five to 12 days. The electric railway is designed to carry up to 25 million tonnes of cargo annually. Uganda’s broader SGR master plan covers approximately 1,724 kilometres. After the Malaba–Kampala section, the government plans to construct the Kampala–Bihanga–Kasese–Mpondwe line into DRC and the Bihanga–Mirama Hills route towards Kigali, Rwanda. Other proposed extensions include Tororo–Gulu–Nimule into South Sudan and Gulu–Pakwach–Vurra into northeastern DRC. The partner states recommended jointly mobilising resources for the cross-border routes instead of pursuing financing separately. Uganda is expected to host the next SGR joint technical meeting, while Rwanda will host the next cluster meeting, with dates yet to be confirmed. The regional SGR programme dates to 2013, when Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda agreed to develop an integrated railway connecting their economies to Mombasa. South Sudan later joined the initiative, extending the planned network towards Juba.