Rwanda to Uganda to Kenya Railway Line Agreed

Leaders of Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya have signed a deal to build a new railway line from Kigali via Kampala to Mombasa to feed goods and services to and from central Africa to the Kenyan port.

A line already exists from Mombasa to the Ugandan city of Jinjan but has suffered from decades of under investment. Much if it is run under a 25 year concession by the Rift Valley Railways but government and private sector companies alike complain of inefficiency despite private sector involvement.

A feasibility study is now taking place to extend the railway from Jinjan to Kigali as part of the agreement made at the summit in August. Other countries interested in the deal include Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which would both benefit from easy access to Mombasa.

The communiqué making the announcement reads “Ministers responsible to put into place a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure the project remains on course, within budgetary provisions and its timely completion.”