UAE’s Etihad Rail aims to upgrade dilapidated network in Africa

Etihad Rail could take a lead role in upgrading dilapidated railways in Africa, as the developer and operator of the UAE’s nascent national rail network eyes opportunities for overseas expansion.

The company signed a host of initial cooperation agreements in May with governments in Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Chad, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Chiefly, the UAE is being courted to provide a potential lifeline to Kenya’s Mombasa-Malaba standard gauge railway connection to Uganda, an ambitious project which stalled about 400 kilometers short of the border after China pulled back on lending.

The railway will eventually continue on to South Sudan.

Etihad Rail, established in 2009, successfully launched freight operations in the UAE in 2023, with passenger rail services expected to start next year.