Govt commits to develop water transport to cut cost of business
Much of Uganda's railway transport network has broken down and is in urgent need of serious investment. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- Government says it is committed to the development of the transport sector, especially railway, water and air, to ease the cost of doing business
Works Minister Katumba Wamala has said government is committed to the development of the transport sector, especially railway, water and air, to ease the cost of doing business.
Speaking during the three-day Africa and Middle East conference on logistics and transport, Mr Katumba said: “Government is committed to developing the railway, inland water, and air transport to ease doing business.”
“Rehabilitation of the metre-gauge railway is on-going and financing arrangements for the development of Standard Gauge Railway have been concluded. Construction of SGR is planned to commence this Financial Year,” he said, noting that government is developing a tri-modal port at Bukasa for cargo connecting to Musoma or Mwanza in Tanzania and to Kisumu in Kenya, with phase one of the project expected to be completed in 2024.
Government has also revived Uganda Airlines through which it seeks to reduce the cost of air transport and ease connectivity to and from Uganda.
In 2021, Cabinet passed the National Transport and Logistics Policy, which seeks to promote the development of an efficient multi-modal transport system to enhance Uganda’s competitiveness at the national, regional and international levels.
Government is also currently implementing a couple of infrastructure projects, which offer significant opportunities for the development of Uganda’s freight and logistics sector.
Mr Katumba also noted that Covid-19 had exposed the vulnerability of Uganda’s transport and supply chain systems, which negatively impacted trade and the economy at large.
Therefore, he said, promoting resilience, adaptability and diversity in global supply chain was a very appropriate theme for the conference given the need to create a transport and logistics sector that can withstand different shocks.
Mr Charles Kareba, the Kargo International managing director, said there is need for ports across the region to operate 24/7, calling for an end to arbitrary declarations, which he said, have a bad bearing on movement of cargo and go against the spirit of integration.
Beyond this, he said, there is need to automate port operations but governments must plan to fend off interruptions such as loss of jobs.
Three-day conference
About 500 expers are attending the three-day conference hosted by Uganda Freight Forwarders Association, which is expected to close today.
