Kenya once had a plan to open up landlocked countries to its west, like Uganda, to the Indian Ocean through railway lines and pipelines that would transport goods and people from its coast to its neighbours.  However, by last year, Tanzania appeared to have beaten Kenya in this regard, connecting  Burundi, Rwanda and Zambia, to which it naturally is the shortest route. In a surprising turn of events, Kenya is now poised to connect with Uganda after Uganda claimed that the line in Tanzania was taking too long and secured funding to complete the Kenyan line. If things go according to plan, Kenya will also connect Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Original proposed North Corridor railway network

Source: Kenya Railways Facebook Page

The original North Corridor Railway Network would have seen Kenya beat Tanzania by opening up Burundi and Rwanda through Uganda. However, Tanzania was quick to seize the moment and conclude agreements with the two. Not only did Tanzania take advantage of its geography, but it has electrified its Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and this month opened up passenger services from Dar es Salaam to Dodomo. Uganda has secured funding to complete its line from Malaba to Kampala. This line will, in turn, open up to the further Greater Lake region of South Sudan and the DRC. 

The race is also determined by the efficiency of the Tanzanian electric SGR, which has been called into question in the past after passengers got stuck due to wildlife interference with the electric lines. Such delays could hamper access to the port of Dar es Salaam, and the delay in completing the line to Uganda has caused Uganda to turn to Kenya, with President Yoweri Museveni flagging off the construction of the Railway at Tororo this week.

Source: https://www.tanzaniainvest.com/sgr 

Current development of the SGR project in Kenya

Sources: Madaraka Express Website

Sources: 2022. Keren Zhu, Ben Mwangi, Lynn Hu on Researchgate

The first image above shows the current development of the Kenyan SGR railway line. The last extension plan discussed in June 2023 was to extend the SGR network to the towns below, opening up to Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia by 2027.

Proposed development of the SGR network by 2027

Source: Government of Kenya

Tanzania is not only threatening to beat Kenya in Railway development but has already beaten Kenya in building a crude oil pipeline that would transport Lake Albert’s fuel via Tanzania instead of the Port of Lamu. The main problem was a security issue, as Lamu is close to the Somalia border and is often subject to incursions from Somalia. Other aspects that made Tanzania a more viable route included land compensation issues and Tanzania’s Tanga Port.

Source: https://totalenergies.com/projects/oil/tilenga-and-eacop-projects-acting-transparently 

As Kenya and Tanzania race to open up the region to more trade at their ports, Kenya needs to address the issues that have caused it to lose out to Tanzania unnecessarily.