While Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway offers a cheaper more efficient transport option for cargo it has also resulted in job losses.

The multibillion-shilling SGR offers its services to landlocked countries in East Africa, and so far container traffic has grown fourfold, with the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi handling up to seven cargo trains daily from just one when the freight service was launched in December 2017.

The ICD has also benefited after cargo clearance was moved from Mombasa to Nairobi. In 2019, the SGR hauled close to nine million tonnes of cargo to Nairobi after the government introduced ex-hook railage where cargo is offloaded directly from the ship to the wagon.

Uganda’s business community has lauded the project as it has reduced time taken to clear and transport their cargo from one week to a few days.

Uganda’s consular in Mombasa, Katureebe Tayebwa, said the SGR was timely as more than 80 per cent of transit cargo handled at the port of Mombasa is destined for Kampala.

“We support the SGR and despite a few issues with some transporters we hope to resolve them once the Naivasha terminal becomes fully operational,” said Mr Tayebwa.

Source: The East African

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