The African Development Bank Group has pledged $301 million to modernize the country’s railways and boost regional trade.

African Development Bank Group (AfDB.org) provides $301 million to repair the Kampala-Malaba Railway (MGR) in Uganda. The railway is part of the EAC Northern Corridor that connects the capital, Kampala, to the coastal city of Mombasa in Kenya.

The East African Railway Rehabilitation Support Project will improve rail services and reduce transportation costs in a region endowed with agricultural land, mineral and oil production and processing.

The financing approved by the group’s board of directors on Wednesday consists of loans and grants from the African Development Bank and its concessional lending window, the African Development Fund.

The works include the immediate rehabilitation of 265km of the MGR track between Malaba and Mukono, including the line to Jinja Quay and Port Peel on Lake Victoria.

The project includes training and skills development for the railway workforce. It will also include nature-based solutions, including planting trees, to improve the resilience of trails with climate change.

During the board approval, African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina said: “Railways are essential to open up the heart of Africa, where there is enormous agricultural and economic potential.” He said the railways would also be useful in connecting the special agricultural processing zones in rural areas, which the African Development Bank is promoting, to markets and other vital logistical hubs. “Railways should not only connect ports with mines,” Adesina said. He added that it was encouraging to see African governments investing in rail transport. The project has been supported by the Ugandan Cabinet and Parliament.

The Kampala-Malaba MGR is part of the multimodal Northern Corridor route, which includes overland transportation from Mombasa in Kenya to landlocked Uganda and neighboring countries including Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Eastern Sudan. Democratic Republic of the Congo. The trail also has sea links to the inland waterways of Lake Victoria.

Rail is a safer and more affordable mode of transport than road, but currently, over 90% of traffic along the Northern Corridor is by road, and only 7% travels by rail due to poor infrastructure. As a result, transportation costs along the corridor are relatively high.

The project is expected to directly benefit about 1.2 million people, 40% of whom are women.

The project is in line with Uganda’s Vision 2040 National Strategy, as well as the East African Community’s Vision 2050, which aims to deepen trade and transform East Africa into a globally competitive upper-middle-income region. The East African Community’s Railway Rehabilitation Support Project also advances the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and three of the African Development Bank’s top five operational priorities: Africa’s integration, Africa’s industrialization, and improving the quality of life of Africa’s people.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.

Media contact:
Terry Olufemi
African Development Bank Group
[email protected]

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is the leading development finance institution in Africa. It is made up of three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 44 African countries with an overseas office in Japan, the African Development Bank contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states.

for more information: AfDB.org