Uganda has signed a $800 million financing agreement with the Islamic Development Bank to support projects, including a planned railway line.
According to Uganda’s Finance Ministry, the multimillion kitty will help to boost the landlocked country trade.
The railway will connect to neighbouring Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway and on to the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.
Other projects to be financed under the three-year deal will be in sectors such as health, transport and energy infrastructure.
Also Read: Uganda Signs $2.95 Billion Deal for SGR Extension to Kampala
The agreement was signed by Ramathan Ggoobi, the finance ministry’s most senior technocrat, and the bank’s Vice President Rami Ahmed at the Saudi Arabia-headquartered development bank’s annual meeting in Algiers, the ministry said on X late on Wednesday.
In October last year, Uganda signed a $2.95 billion) deal with Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi Holdings AS to build a 272-kilometer railway line to revive a long-stalled project after China withdrew its financial support.
The reports then indicated that the railway would connect Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to the Kenyan border, to improve access to the port of Mombasa.
Uganda has now turned to Citibank as the lead arranger for syndicated debt financing. Officials expect construction of the fully electrified railway, designed to run at speeds of up to 120 km/h, to be completed within four years.
Uganda agreed to take up the project from Malaba border in Busia (Kenya) to Kampala which will cost Ksh.5 billion.
Kenya’s 460 km MGR which stretches from Mai Mahiu to Malaba will cost Ksh.10 billion.
