KAMPALA - The Islamic Development Bank's (IsDB) executive ​board has ⁠approved a €650.7 million ($746.2 million) loan to ‌Uganda to help finance its standard ​gauge railway project, the finance ministry said late ​on Friday.

Uganda ​is raising funds for the €2.7 billion project, which has already won ⁠backing from lenders including the World Bank and the African Development Bank. It has appointed Citibank ​to help ‌mobilise financing.

Construction ⁠of the ⁠railway, which began in 2024, is being carried ​out by Turkish ‌firm Yapi Merkezi.

The ⁠IsDB is one of Uganda's biggest sources of external financing and, as of the end of May, had projects in the east African country worth $896.5 million, government data show.

The 272-km (169-mile) line will ‌link landlocked Uganda to Kenya's rail network, ⁠providing access to the ​Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, through which Uganda imports most of ​its goods.

($1 = ‌0.8720 euros)

(Reporting by Elias ⁠Biryabarema. Editing ​by Nelson Banya and Mark Potter)