State banks on Nanyuki metre gauge railway to boost trade
By Nicholas Waitathu, May 21, 2021
The recently rehabilitated Nairobi –Nanyuki metre gauge railway has been earmarked as a key route to transport goods to Nanyuki and further by trucks to sections of the hinterland – Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) are working on logistics to ensure goods transported by Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Mombasa to Nairobi will then be carried by Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) from Nairobi to Nanyuki.
Under the Kenya Transport and Logistics Network (KTLN), infrastructure development is being undertaken such as a yard to handle container cargos lifted from Nairobi.
According to Kenya Railway Corporation chairman Pastor Awitta said yards are being constructed at Nanyuki to handle goods ferried from Nairobi destined for South Sudan and Ethiopia.
“Under the guidance of the KTLN we are working on the necessary logistics so that once goods transported by SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi can be carried by MGR from Nairobi to Nanyuki and then picked up by trucks to either Southern Sudan and Ethiopia,” said Awitta told Business Hub during a recent interview in the coastal town of Lamu.
Enhance efficiency
President Uhuru Kenyatta established KTLN last year, through an Executive Order. It is meant to enhance efficiency and co-ordination in the transport sector by fortifying public private dialogue and leveraging the efficiencies and synergies of the relevant state agencies.
It is hoped that through the institution that comprises various government agencies, the country will be able to achieve its strategic agenda of becoming a regional logistics hub.
State agencies under KTLN are KRC, Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya Ports Authority.
All of them have been brought under the coordination of Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation as the holding company.
KPA chairman Joseph Kibwana said under the KTLN transporting consignments from Nairobi to Nanyuki is meant to increase trade between Kenya and the neighbouring countries.