President Yoweri Museveni officially launched the much-anticipated construction of Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) on November 21, 2024, marking a transformative moment in the country’s transport infrastructure. The $3 billion project, set to be completed within four years, is backed by the Türkiye construction firm Yapi Merkezi.
Stretching 273 kilometers from the capital, Kampala, to the Malaba border with Kenya, the railway will play a key role in enhancing Uganda’s regional connectivity and economic growth. It promises to improve the efficiency of both passenger and freight transport, with the capacity to carry 1,000 tonnes of cargo at a time, significantly reducing transportation costs and congestion across East Africa.
In his address at the launch, Museveni underscored the strategic importance of the railway in fostering regional trade, boosting economic activity, and improving the country’s infrastructure. He noted that poor infrastructure remains one of the major barriers to trade in Africa, citing that trade volumes on the continent are lower than they could be due to inadequate connectivity. “Our aim is to break the barriers to intra-African trade and open up direct access to markets within the continent,” he said, adding that the new railway would facilitate quicker and cheaper movement of goods, particularly between Uganda and its neighboring nations.
The railway project is expected to cut travel time from Kampala to Mombasa from the current 14 hours to under 10 hours, thus enhancing the efficiency of trade between Uganda and Kenya. It will also help address the growing demand for safer, more reliable transportation alternatives to road transport, which has seen high accident rates in the past.
The Türkiye Ambassador to Uganda, Fatih Ak, expressed his country’s continued support for Uganda’s development ambitions. He emphasized that the SGR project is an essential step in boosting Uganda’s competitive edge in the global market by improving transport infrastructure, which is crucial for the country’s economic progress.
The railway will also create thousands of jobs during its construction and operational phases, helping to develop local skills and stimulate economic growth. Levent Serdar Dervisoglu, the honorary consular of Uganda in Istanbul, highlighted the importance of the project in job creation and the long-term benefits it would bring to Uganda’s economy.
Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala, stressed the economic advantages of the SGR, pointing to the significant cost savings in logistics. He explained that the cost of transporting a 20-foot container from Mombasa to Kampala is currently around $3,250, but with the new railway, this cost is expected to be reduced by up to 50%, making Uganda’s exports more competitive and facilitating cheaper imports.
As construction progresses, local leaders, including Tororo County MP Geoffrey Ekanya, are optimistic about the opportunities the railway will bring to the region. Ekanya has called on locals to engage with the project by leasing land to investors, stressing that Tororo will become an important investment hub for both Uganda and East Africa.
Once completed, the SGR will not only improve domestic trade but also enhance regional integration by connecting Uganda more efficiently to neighboring East African countries. President Museveni reiterated that the project aligns with the government’s broader goals of fostering sustainable economic growth, reducing poverty, and creating a more interconnected East African region.
