Uganda could turn to oil revenue to fund railway

KAMPALA: Uganda could rely on income from future oil exports to finance an $8 billion (Sh712 billion) railway if funding talks with China fail to bear fruit, its president said. Yoweri Museveni confirmed that Uganda had started negotiations with China on building the line that would link it to Kenya, speeding up freight transport in the region.

He gave no details on how far the talks had gone. “But if they don’t (offer financing), we shall fund it ourselves,” Museveni told Reuters on Monday on the sidelines of an African investment conference in London. “Remember we have our oil, which we shall start harvesting in 2017, and that money will deal with these projects - railway and electricity ... China or no China, we shall build that railway.”