By Deep Earth
The Standard Gauge Railway Uganda project senior team will later this week meet Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) top leadership and board members in a discussion about the new railway and emerging
opportunities surrounding the $2.3bn project. The UCMP is a private sector lobby group for the oil, gas and minerals sector.
The meeting will be held at Rwenzori Towers, where the UCMP team will be updated about the progress of the SGR project. The UCMP team will also understand the railway’s impact on businesses and how they can prepare to participate 
now and during construction, especially through local content provisions.
The SGR is expected to reduce the cost of doing business and attract foreign direct investment.
The railway will reduce the time it takes to ship goods from Mombasa to Kampala from an average seven to 14 days to just a day. It will also reduce the cost of transportation.
It is targeted that about 40 per cent of the total contract value of $2.3 billion should be retained in Uganda through local content. There will be opportunities in supply of earth materials (gravel, sand, aggregate), cement, steel, legal and communication services, lubricants, accommodation, food and beverages among others.
Negotiations for the loan with the Exim Bank of China are in advanced stages. Major preconstruction activities like reconciling with other infrastructure projects where they will meet the railway like National Water and Sewerage Corporation, UNRA are being finalized, Kasingye Kyamugambi, the SGR project coordinator for Uganda, said.
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