ECONOMY AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

AfDB Approves $5bn Infrastructure Bond for East African Rail Network

AfDB Rail Funding

The African Development Bank's Board of Governors has greenlit the East African Standard Gauge Rail Bond, the largest single infrastructure financing instrument in the bank's history.

The corridor is designed to reduce freight costs between Mombasa and Kigali by an estimated 60% compared to current road transport, and to support passenger services at speeds up to 120km/h.

Construction is slated to begin in Q3 with a target operational date of 2032, creating an estimated 45,000 direct jobs during the build phase.

This article was reported by the AfriDevMonitor editorial team. Additional reporting contributed by our correspondents in Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, and Cairo.