An agreement was made with the Turkish company Yapı Merkezi to realize the long-awaited Standard Gauge Railway construction in Uganda.
The statement came from Minister of State for Information and National Guidance, Godfrey Kabyanga.
The Standard Gauge Railway project was launched in 2013 and, according to Kabyanga, efforts are ongoing to compensate those who will be affected by the project.
The government prioritized the security and transport sectors during the presentation of the 2023/2024 budget. The government has now acquired a 161 km corridor for the Standard Gauge Railway between Tororo and Mayuge.
The recent discovery of significant oil in the Bunyoro region of Western Uganda is expected to lead to increased economic activity inland of both the Tororo-Pakwach and Kampala-Kasese rail corridors. The government is accelerating the start of commercial oil production.
RAILWAY IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMY
There are more than 80 minerals in Uganda, such as iron ore (200 million tonnes), phosphates (27 million tonnes), beryllium, chromium and copper/cobalt, which cannot be exploited economically without efficient rail transport.
SGR in Uganda will also provide access to DR Congo's rich, vast mineral deposits, including iron ore (5 billion metric tonnes), aluminum and large copper deposits in the Katanga region (62 million metric tonnes). There are also tin, lead and zinc (4 million metric tons), nickel, timber, and oil and gas. The proposed SGR in Uganda will act as a transit route for minerals as it will be easier and shorter to reach China, India, European and American markets.
Currently, total freight transit traffic from the Port of Mombasa in the Indian Ocean via Uganda to Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is approximately 650.000 metric tonnes per year. This traffic is expected to increase significantly (more than 2040-fold) by 20 tons.
