The African Development Bank Group is allocating $301 million to renovate the Kampala-Malaba metric track railway in Uganda.

The railway line is one of the links in the Eastern African Community's northern corridor, which connects the Ugandan capital Kampala with the coastal city of Mombasa, in Kenya. Apart from strengthening rail services, the East African Community Railway Improvement Project will reduce transportation costs in a region rich in agricultural land, minerals, oil production, and manufacturing industries.

Indeed, the Board of Directors of the Bank Group gave the go-ahead on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, for the financing of the project, which consists of loans and grants from the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund, its concessional lending facility. This project also provides for the training and skills development of railway personnel. To improve the resilience of the routes to climate change, nature-based solutions are also on the agenda.

According to the President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, at the Board session at which the project was approved, “rail lines are critical to opening the heart of Africa, which has immense agricultural and economic potential.”