Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta launched the construction of the Phase 2 of the Standard Gauge Railway project.
The second phase of the project includes the development of the 490 km line linking Nairobi and Malaba, for which the Cabinet approved the conclusion of commercial contracts between Kenya Railways and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) in March 2016. The construction of this section will be divided in three sub-phases. The first one involves the construction of Nairobi –Malaba section including the development of the Nairobi –Naivasha section for which the government has obtained a loan granted by China. The total cost of the project amounts to USD 1.5 billion. The second sub-phase includes the Naivasha– Kisumu section, the development of the Kisumu Port capacity, as well as the construction of the Kisumu –Malaba section (107 km). At this point, the authorities seek financing sources for these projects.
In March 2016, Kenya and the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) have signed an agreement for the construction of the Naivasha-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway line under the Kenya SGR Developments Project valued at Sh549 billion (USD 5.4 billion).
The standard gauge railway (SGR project) that will connect Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan is one of the most important transport projects in Eastern Africa. The railway will provide connection between Mombasa and Malaba (Kenya), Uganda border and further to Kampala (Uganda’s capital), Kigali (in Rwanda) with a section to Juba (South Sudan). Also, extensions will be built to the important cities in the three countries.
Photo: PSCU
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