EU Head of Delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Pacifici (L) and Minister Kasaija after signing the deal
The European Union has today approved to finance the project for the rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu railway. A grant of EUR 21.5 million (UShs91bn) will be disbursed from the European Development Fund (EDF) to rehabilitate this key transport infrastructure in Northern Uganda. The Government of Uganda will contribute with counterpart funding equivalent to EUR 13.1 million.
EU Head of Delegation to Uganda, H.E Ambassador Attilio Pacifici, together with the Minister of Finance Planning and Economic Development, Honourable Matia Kasaija put pen to paper on the financing agreement for the project.
The objective of the project is to reduce the transport costs within Northern Uganda and beyond, including South Sudan and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Once rehabilitated the Tororo-Gulu railway will allow a significant part of cargo currently moving on wheels along the Northern Corridor to transfer to rail.
With this project the EU continues to support the transport sector in Uganda and the promotion of a multimodal transport plan focussing on the development of environmentally friendly transport modes such as railways and waterways. The project is also a mark of the EU’s commitment to continue supporting Northern Uganda.
Together with the Gulu Logistic Hub, also funded by the EU, the Tororo-Gulu railway rehabilitation project will crucially contribute to improve performance of Northern Uganda’s key value chains by facilitating cheaper import of export of products. It will contribute to achieve the overall objective of private sector development and job creation in Northern Uganda and to implement the Ugandan Green Growth strategy and Vision 2040.
“We are proud to support the Government of Uganda’s decision to revitalise this crucial economic link,” said Ambassador Pacifici. “This project is part of the many actions taken by the European Union to support Northern Uganda which include the recently launched EUR 150 million Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees and support to the host communities.”
On behalf of the Government, Hon. Kasaija thanked the EU for supporting Uganda’s economic growth and development.
The Tororo-Gulu railway line used to be a pivotal economic artery along the East African Northern Corridor linking the port of Mombasa and Eastern Uganda to Northern Uganda, as well as to South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. The line has been out of service since 1993 because of unrest in Northern Uganda and unfair competition of overloaded trucks.
