Uganda locks funds for joint SGR as Kenya plan stalls
President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni during the official launch of the Kisumu-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway at Kibos in Kisumu County on March 21, 2026.
Uganda expects to conclude financing arrangements for its €2.7 billion ($3 billion) standard gauge railway (SGR) project within the next few months after securing a major funding commitment from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), bringing the long-delayed infrastructure initiative closer to financial close than at any point in the past decade.
But Kenya, with which Kampala is building the cross-border project, is struggling to raise about $4 billion for extension of its line from Naivasha in the Central Rift to Malaba on the border, with the Treasury confirming the project will not proceed under a public private partnership as earlier proposed, but the financing options are still unclear.
