China’s Exim Bank has once again rejected Uganda’s fresh
application for a standard gauge railway loan, indicating a longer wait for
Kampala’s dream of realising a modern transit system.
Officials survey an area in Tororo District in November 2017 where the Standard Gauge Railway is expected to pass |
Exim Bank, in a
response to Uganda’s application for financing re-submitted in September last
year, insists there must be clarification on whether Kenya’s SGR will terminate
at the border to guarantee smooth connectivity.
The Chinese responded
to Kampala’s request in January this year.
Uganda re-submitted the
loan application after changing the scope of works and revising the cost for
the 273km project reduced by $26 million to $2.269 billion.
“The China Exim Bank
has responded and sought clarification on the connectivity of Uganda SGR and
Kenya SGR since Kenya has slowed down on the progress. Discussions are going on
at a high level between Kenya and Uganda to agree on new timelines,” project
co-ordinator, Mr Perez Wamburu said.
Kenya’s High
Commissioner to Uganda, Kiema Kilonzo, said Nairobi remains committed to the
project.
“Both Presidents Yoweri
Museveni and Uhuru Kenyatta are keen to see the SGR running smoothly from
Mombasa to Kampala, the only thing is that this will be achieved in stages. One
of the things I did last year was to organise a state visit for President
Museveni to Kenya and President Uhuru has also visited Uganda. Discussions are
going on at a high level and right now the technical teams are engaging,” Mr
Kilonzo added.
President Museveni in
June last year, travelled to China accompanied by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for
Transport James Macharia, in an indication that the two governments are working
together to deliver the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project.
“So there is no doubt
about Kenya’s commitment to see that all the sections are done but the priority
is now the leg between Naivasha and Kisumu. Kenya is in advanced stages of
negotiations [to secure financing],” Mr Kilonzo said in an interview last week.
The Uganda government
and the SGR engineering procurement and construction contractor China Harbour
Engineering Company last year reviewed the contract signed in March 2015 and
slashed the project cost by an initial $120 million.
However, after
negotiating the price down, the Uganda government revised the scope of the
project works to include a railway spur to Bukasa Port as well as fencing of
the whole SGR line from Malaba to Kampala, at a cost of $94 million.
Because of these
changes, Uganda needed to resubmit its application to Exim Bank, seeking an
85-15 per cent financing split between the Chinese lender and the government of
Uganda. - Daily Monitor
No comments:
Post a Comment