Railway lines are critical to opening up the heartland of Africa, where there is immense agricultural and economic potential. The Kampala-Malaba Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) in Uganda is part of the East African Community’s Northern Corridor. It links Ugandan capital Kampala to Kenyan coastal city Mombasa. The East African Community Railway Rehabilitation Support Project will strengthen rail services and lower transport costs in a region rich in agricultural land, manufacturing and minerals and petroleum production. The work will consist of the immediate rehabilitation of 265km of MGR railway tracks between Malaba and Mukono. This includes the line to Jinja Pier and Port Bell on Lake Victoria.

The objective of the project is to improve rail transport services on the Northern Corridor and to lower transportation costs to enhance trade competitiveness for Uganda and the EAC region. The project will add to the transport infrastructure stock in the East African Community (EAC) region and in particular Uganda to support production in agro-processing, mining, timber, petroleum, and manufacturing industries.

The East African Community Railway Rehabilitation Support Project also advances the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and three of the African Development Bank’s High 5 operational priorities: Integrate Africa, Industrialise Africa and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

• Conduct high-resolution, asset-level climate risk and vulnerability assessment to quantify key climate risk hazards and associated risks to the planned railway line.
• Adaptation and resilience investment options appraisal to identify and appraise adaptation and resilience options, focusing on integration of nature-based solutions (NBS)
• Structuring the NBS investment options depending on the scale of NBS options in partnership with the World Wide Fund 
•  Capacity enhancement for resilient railway project planning and management under the AAAP Masterclass on Climate Resilient infrastructure in partnership with University of Nairobi

• Improve maritime transportation on Lake Victoria through the acquisition of new wagon ferries and construction of spurs to Port Bell and Jinja port
• Promote trade,  spur industrial development and create jobs
• Stimulate growth and enhance regional integration in Eastern Africa
• Design for the Kampala multimodal hub and refurbishment of Kampala-Namanve and Tororo-Malaba sections totalling 28 kilometres.
• Directly benefit close to 1.2 million people with 40% being women

• Deepened trade and transforming East Africa into a globally competitive upper-middle-income region
• Support production in agro-processing, mining, timber, petroleum, and manufacturing industries in Uganda
• Reduced travel cost and improved on road traffic safety 
• Efficient and effective transportation system
• Reduce transport GHG emissions and road maintenance costs
• Create jobs for both men and women
• Build capacity of Uganda Railway Authority