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KAMPALA, Oct.25 (Xinhua) – Uganda has started building a logistics center in the northern Gulu district to promote regional trade, according to a House of Representatives statement issued by President Yoweri Museveni here on Saturday.
The president also launched the rehabilitation of the defunct 375-kilometer Tororo-Gulu railway line, which will link the center with a railway line connecting Uganda with the Kenyan seaport of Mombasa.
“Rail transportation is cheaper than road transportation. For example, the cost of transporting a 40-foot container of goods from the port of Mombasa to Kampala is US $ 3,600 by road, while rail transportation alone it costs $ 1,800. It will be even much faster and cheaper once the standard gauge rail is built, “Museveni said.
Both projects are interrelated and funded by the government and the European Union.
The government said that when completed, the 24.1-acre logistics center will handle more than 200,000 containers per year.
It is also expected to lower trade barriers for both northern Uganda and neighboring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Katumba Wamala, Minister of the Department of Works and Transport, said that transport and logistics costs account for about 50 percent of the value of goods and services for Uganda.
“Once completed in 2023, the railway line will benefit the community in northern Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and reduce the costs of the goods that are currently attached to the Kampala warehouse,” said the Minister. Final product
