Kenya and Uganda Broke Ground to Extend Standard Gauge Railway

On 21 March 2026, Kenyan President William Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Musevina met at Kisumu, near the border between the countries. Both countries agreed to extend the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) that starts in Mombasa to be extended into Uganda.

Initially, China financed and built the first leg from Mombasa to Nairobi with a tab of USD 5 billion. Then, it was extended to Naivasha. Ruto naturally sought China again for the extension, but China was not too keen, arguing that the project is not viable.

Now, the plan is to extend from Naivasha to Kisumu with an ambitious timeline to complete the works by June 2027. Then, the next step is to link Malaba, a border town. Currently, cargo takes about 80 hours from the seaport of Mombasa to reach Malaba. From Malaba to the Ugandan capital, it takes another 20 hours.

Both Ruto and Museveni are on the same page regarding the strategic significance of the project. Ruto pointed out that: “We cannot build prosperity on inefficiency.” On the other hand, Museveni believes: “The railway is part of the rationalization of our transport system, especially on the Uganda side, which is wasteful.”

The project is estimated to cost USD 4 billion (KSH 500 billion). The financing is not coming from Chinese banks this time. Instead, Kenya and Uganda are structuring the deal by borrowing against future cargo taxes. The partners are Chinese transport companies.

Eventually, the SGR will extend into other landlocked countries such as Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Everybody is eyeing the mineral boom in DRC and is eager to get in on a piece of the action.