Rift Valley Railway (RVR), the consortium managing the Uganda-Kenya railway line has announced that it has got $10 million. The money will help it qualify for financing from international lenders. Reports indicate that the company will get the money before this month ends. It is hoped that with this money, Kfw, a German development bank, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) may then lend the consortium the money to develop the line. The company needs millions of dollars to strengthen its operations after the Kampala and Nairobi government’s tasked RVR to improve services. Failure to, the two governments had threatened to terminate the 25-year concession agreement with RVR, a South African company, signed in late 2006. The 100 year-old line that runs from the port of Mombasa to the Ugandan capital is also used by importers from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The railway company failed to make an impact on railway transport in the region because of poor capitalization. Business Daily Africa reports that it is this weak financial position and failure to make an impact in the business that KfW and IFC have cited as the reason for withholding money that is due to RVR under the loans agreement. Ends
