Standard Chartered has expressed interest in the Uganda rail project, according to the president’s office

Standard Chartered Bank has expressed interest in providing financing for Uganda’s proposed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), according to a statement from President Yoweri Museveni’s office. This comes after the project was unable to secure credit from China.

According to a statement issued late on Thursday, Sanjay Rughani, the CEO of the bank’s Ugandan unit, informed Museveni of the bank’s interest in the project.

Rughani was a member of a delegation from Standard Chartered Bank that met with Museveni. The delegation also included Faruq Muhammad, the bank’s global head of structured export finance.

“We have expressed our interest in financing several other projects, including SGR,” Rughani reportedly informed Museveni.

Similar to an auditor, the 273 kilometer (170 mile) railway is projected to significantly reduce the expenses of transporting goods for landlocked Uganda by linking to neighboring Kenya’s SGR, which extends to the Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa.

In 2015, Uganda entered into an agreement with Chinese firm China Harbor and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to implement the project, with the condition that the firm assists in securing funds for the railway from the Chinese government.

After years of unsuccessful negotiations, Uganda decided to end the agreement last year and is now in discussions with Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi to take on the project.