Uganda is finalising talks with development finance institutions and export credit agencies to get 85 per cent of a planned €2.7 billion ($3.15 billion) railway project financed with debt, according to project head Perez Wamburu. The government will provide the remaining 15 per cent, having already released $75 million for preliminary works. Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi, awarded the contract in October 2023, has begun initial construction on the 272-kilometre Kampala-Malaba line, the first phase of a planned 1,700-km electric railway that will connect Uganda with Kenya. Some of the potential financiers involve the OPEC Fund for International Development, Africa Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and a number of European export credit agencies, Wamburu added. "The possible financiers are available … the Finance Ministry is actively engaged with them and financial closure should be soon," he further said. The Ugandan government will fund 15 per cent and has released $75 million to finance the preliminary work, Wamburu noted. Attribution: Reuters Subediting: Y.Yasser
