Uganda has secured funding for the construction of the first logistics hub at Gulu Railway station, giving it impetus to target markets in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),Benon Kajuna director transport at the ministry of Works and Transport has said.
Mr Kajuna said that the hub will be constructed on at least 24 acres – provided by the government.
A logistics hub is a designated area that deals with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators.
The project will cost $8.6m of which $5.6m is available with funding from DFID and TradeMark East Africa.
“We have completed a pre-feasibility study for the project, with designs expected at the end of this year. We expect construction to commence by end of 2018,” he told delegates attending the Joint Oil and Gas and Logistics Expo 2017 at Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre last week.
It will be a Private-Public Partnership (PPP), with some private sector players expected to come on board.
Mark Pearson, a consultant with TradeMark East Africa expressed his confidence that the construction of the logistics hub will promote logistics services in Uganda. He added that the hub could help Uganda reach markets as far as the Central African Republic if the hub is commercially viable.
“There is an opportunity for Uganda here if it targets the Eastern DRC market and South Sudan,” he said.
A research conducted by TradeMark East Africa indicates that the Mombasa-Kampala-Juba route is a cheaper route for goods compared to Mombasa-Juba.
A logistics hub is a designated area that deals with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators.
Estimates indicate that logistics in Uganda employs about 200,000 people with the potential of this number doubling by 2030 when oil and gas come on board and the country grows its export capacity.