Kenyan and Ugandan leaders over the weekend broke ground for the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway that will connect the two neighboring countries, marking a major milestone in East Africa's push for deeper regional integration and cheaper transport.

Kenya's President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni said the 107-kilometer Kisumu-Malaba SGR line, connecting Kenya's western city of Kisumu with Malaba on the Uganda border, will complete the final phase of the nearly 1,000-kilometer railway corridor stretching from the Port of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast to Kenya's western border with Uganda.

"We are very happy that Kenya is moving forward with the SGR to Malaba so that it can link with the Ugandan section from Malaba to Kampala," Museveni said during the launch in Kisumu.

The project, stalled for nearly six years due to financing constraints, is expected to revive plans for a modern regional railway system linking East Africa's hinterland to global markets through Mombasa.

The extension also continues Kenya's infrastructure cooperation with China, with the Mombasa-Nairobi and Nairobi-Naivasha sections of the SGR built by Chinese contractors and financed largely through Chinese funding.

Song Hailiang, the chairman of China Communications Construction Company, noted that the initiative is an important project under the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Kenya. "We will ensure the railway is built to high standards of quality and efficiency," he said.

Museveni, on his side, emphasized that the railway would be a game-changer for regional trade and competitiveness.

"Uganda is a landlocked country and therefore transport is very critical for us," he said, adding that rail transport is essential for heavy cargo over long distances.

Beyond Kenya and Uganda, Museveni said the railway would serve the wider region. "This railway will not only benefit Kenya and Uganda but also other countries in the region, such as Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

Transformational corridor

Ruto said the railway represents more than a transport project, describing it as a transformational corridor that will shape the economic geography of East Africa for generations.

"Infrastructure development does not just connect places; it often creates them. It determines where opportunity lives, where investment flows and where prosperity takes root," he said.

The Kenyan leader drew parallels with the historic Uganda Railway built more than a century ago, which reshaped the region by linking the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to inland East Africa and helping cities such as Nairobi emerge as economic hubs.

According to Ruto, the modern SGR will build on that legacy by creating an integrated economic corridor linking major agricultural, industrial and logistics hubs across Kenya and the region.

Since its launch in 2017, the SGR has transported more than 15 million passengers and over 45 million metric tons of freight, helping lower logistics costs and ease pressure on regional highways.

Ruto said the railway extension will also stimulate industrial parks, logistics hubs and agricultural trade along the corridor, enabling farmers and manufacturers to access markets more efficiently.

"If the railway of the past century shaped the character of our region, then the railway we build today must define its future," he said.

victor@chinadailyafrica.com