Kenya’s government launched on March, 2016, a call to offer to find a consulting firm which will select an operator for a new railway network which is to boost trade and cut cost of transportation of goods in Eastern Africa.

According to the call to tender, the hired consulting will also be tasked with recommending an appropriate exploitation model for the railway network which will be used to transport containers and reduce pressure on regional roads that are damaged by heavy vehicles.

The new railway network, which costs $13.8 billion, will connect Mombasa‘s port on the Indian ocean to Nairobi, and Uganda. The railway, whose construction started in December 2014, is financed by China. It should be operational in mid-2017.