Uganda to Host First National Content Symposium for Standard Gauge Railway Project

The Ministry of Works and Transport, through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Project, will on Friday, 29th August 2025, hold the first-ever SGR National Content Symposium at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

The symposium, running under the theme “Unlocking Local Potential through Modern Rail Infrastructure,” will be officially opened by the Minister of Works and Transport, Hon. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala. It will bring together key players from both the public and private sectors to deliberate on opportunities for Ugandans in the multibillion-shilling project.

According to the SGR Project Coordinator, Can. Eng. Perez Wamburu, the meeting is intended to prioritise the use of Ugandan goods and services, while enabling citizens and the private sector to actively participate in the project’s development, operations, and maintenance.

“National Content is premised on ensuring that up to 40% of the contract value, amounting to Euro 2.7 billion, is retained locally by prioritising Ugandan suppliers,” Eng. Wamburu explained.

Speaking to the press at Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday morning, he mentioned several areas where Ugandans can benefit, including the supply of cement, steel, aggregates, sand, ballast, gravel, and labour—skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled. Additional opportunities exist in legal, financial, communication, and security services, as well as logistics, clearing and forwarding, equipment leasing, construction, tourism, hospitality, and medical services.

Beyond goods and services, the National Content agenda also targets skills development through training, job opportunities, technology transfer, educational partnerships, and enterprise development. “We want to enhance supplier capacity, improve access to finance, and organize business clinics to prepare Ugandan companies for active participation,” Wamburu added.

The SGR project, officially launched by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in November 2024, has already registered progress. The contractor, Yapi Merkezi, is undertaking preliminary works including geotechnical and topographic surveys, identification of material sites, establishment of a campsite, construction of a concrete yard and batching plant, and setting up a railway sleeper factory along the corridor.

On land acquisition, the process has reached Buikwe, the ninth district from Tororo out of the 12 traversed by the railway corridor. Valuation reports for Mukono, Wakiso, and Kampala are currently before the Chief Government Valuer awaiting approval before compensation begins. Other technical preparations, such as the extension of electricity lines and coordination with regional partners like Kenya, are ongoing.

The SGR is expected to transform Uganda’s transport sector, lower the cost of trade, and strengthen regional integration once completed.