Infrastructure

Work on Naivasha-Malaba SGR Gears Up for December Kickoff

Preliminary works for the Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba line have been completed.

Updated on

June 24, 2025

Works for the Nairobi-Naivasha SGR — Past work for the Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway. PHOTO | COURTESY

Construction of the Sh580 billion Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is set to begin soon as the Kenyan government seeks to advance regional connectivity.

According to Philip Mainga, managing director of Kenya Railways Corporation, preliminary works for the high-speed railway — known as Phase 2B (Naivasha to Kisumu) and Phase 2C (Kisumu to Malaba) — have been completed, with construction set to start by December.

“We have already identified the route and the people to be compensated along the corridor,” Mainga said during the SGR’s 8th anniversary celebration in Nairobi on June 10.

“Our officers are on the ground and we expect to finalise the environmental impact assessment by the beginning of next month.”

The 475-kilometre railway will build on the existing 553-kilometre line between Mombasa and the Naivasha Inland Container Depot, boosting cross-border trade.

The announcement signifies a breakthrough for a project initially planned to stretch from Mombasa to Kisumu but stalled in Naivasha due to financial challenges.

It comes nearly two years after Kenya and Uganda signed a deal to jointly seek Sh850 billion from European and Gulf lenders to fund the Naivasha-Kampala SGR construction, which was expected to start in January 2024.

Media reports indicated that the UAE was considered a suitable candidate after offering to upgrade the port of Mombasa, the main gateway to the Great Lakes region.

The UAE reportedly dangled an offer to build the railway to Malaba, on condition that it receives a significant stake in the port of Mombasa.

On the Ugandan side, UK Export Finance (UKEF) was expected to provide most of the funding for the Kampala-Malaba line.

Chinese, European, and Middle Eastern lenders were also reportedly interested in providing funds to extend the Ugandan SGR to Mpondwe at the border with the DRC, Mirama Hills to connect with Rwanda, and Elegu to South Sudan.

The fundraising deal signed in Mombasa on July 28, 2024, by the then Kenyan Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and his Ugandan counterpart Katumba Wamala sought to achieve seamless railway transport from Mombasa to Kampala.

Under the deal, Kenya will extend the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba – a distance of 475 km, while Uganda will build a 272 km railway from Malaba to Kampala.

“It is of great benefit for both countries if we extend the SGR to Kampala. We are working as a team to ensure that goods are not stuck at the Malaba border,” Murkomen said.

Murkomen had earlier said the government viewed the extension of the SGR to Malaba as the best way to ensure the viability of the railway that runs from Mombasa to Naivasha.

“This project will only make sense when it goes past Naivasha as compared to the current situation where we are forced to transport goods by the lake instead of having them through the Kisumu port,” Murkomen said in an interview.

Phase 1 of the SGR, connecting Mombasa to Nairobi, was completed in 2017 for Sh327 billion, while Phase 2A, from Nairobi to Naivasha, ended in 2019, costing Sh150 billion.

Shortly before the completion of the Nairobi-Naivasha line, the government revived plans to extend the railway to Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border.