Kenya is partnering with three African nations to build a railway line between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, according to a statement from President William Ruto.
The three countries, Kenya, Uganda and the DRC and Brazzaville, will each construct a railway line linking one nation to another through border points. The railway line will run from Kenya's coast to the coast of the DRC and vice versa.
We are currently in talks with Kenya, Uganda and DRC (including Brazzaville, which borders on the Indian Ocean) to explore how we can link the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, Ruto said. “I think there’s only a 1,000-kilometre section of the rail network that needs to be connected,” Ruto said on the sidelines of Africa’s largest private sector dialogue on the continent’s continental free trade area at Nairobi’s Nairobi Convention Centre.
The connectivity is expected to increase trade between the countries of East and West Africa by reducing the time it takes for goods to travel within the continent and to the US.
Currently, goods travelling to the US have to traverse the African continent through South Africa to the countries in West Africa and to the US, which hinders trade. The project will make trade between Africa and America, and between the regions, possible through smooth connectivity.
As countries, we are ready to work together on this. We can do our part in Kenya, and Uganda is already working on their part.
We are in talks with the DRC Government to see how we can pool resources to build a 1000 kilometers of land in the DRC, connect it with the Congo River, and transport our goods....
