PRESIDENT, William Samoei Ruto, attended the launch of the next phase of construction of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) on March 19. Involving 264km of new construction, the line will be extended from Naivasha, northwest of Nairobi, westwards to Kisumu, where an 8.7km branch line is planned to the new Kisumu Port.

The SGR will then continue west for a further 107km to the border with Uganda at Malaba where it will join the under-construction Ugandan SGR to Kampala.

The launch was also attended by prime cabinet secretary, Dr Musalia Mudavadi, cabinet secretary for roads and transport, Davis Chirchir, and Song Hailiang, chairman of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

The first two phases of the SGR, totalling 592km, opened between Mombasa and Nairobi and Nairobi and Naivasha in 2017 and 2019, respectively. These projects were largely funded and built by Chinese companies.

However, according to news agency Reuters, although the next phase will be built by CCCC it will be financed through revenue securitisation, marking a shift in how Beijing is funding major infrastructure projects. Kenya will use ‌a ⁠railway development levy on freight consignments carried on the existing line, estimated to be worth around $US 270m a year, as seed capital for the construction of further phases.

Cost estimates for the Naivasha - Malaba line were previously quoted at $US 5.3bn, although neither the government nor Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) have confirmed the actual cost or funding details.

Last year, Kenya renegotiated terms ​with China for the $US 5bn loan provided to fund construction of the first two sections of the SGR, in order to reduce Kenya’s annual repayments.

Earlier this year Ruto revealed during a visit to Abu Dhabi that discussions were underway with the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to provide financial support for the remaining sections of line between Naivasha and Malaba.

Uganda SGR

Construction of the electrified 273km Eastern Railway Line in Uganda, linking the capital Kampala with Malaba, started in November 2024. In February, officials from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) visited Uganda to discuss a proposed contribution of €405m towards the estimated $US 2.7bn cost of the project.