Africa added approximately 2,000 kilometres of new railway lines between 2015 and 2024, reflecting renewed interest in rail as a driver of connectivity and trade.
This was revealed in the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025, published by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
The report shows that between 2015 and 2019, countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, and Ethiopia led a wave of greenfield railway projects—new lines built on previously undeveloped land to expand rail capacity.
These included the Abuja–Kaduna and Lagos–Ibadan standard gauge railways in Nigeria, the Mombasa–Naivasha SGR in Kenya, the Tangiers–Kenitra high-speed line in Morocco, and the Djibouti–Addis Ababa railway. Guinea also launched a key mineral railway in Boké.
“Between 2015 and 2024, Africa added approximately 2,000 km of new railway lines, though the nature of these projects has shifted over time. The 2015–2019 period was characterized by a series of greenfield developments, including the Djibouti–Addis Ababa standard gauge railway (SGR), the Mombasa–Naivasha SGR in Kenya, Nigeria’s Abuja–Kaduna and Lagos–Ibadan SGRs, Morocco’s Tangiers–Kenitra high-speed line, and Guinea’s Boké bauxite railway,” the report read in part.
The report noted a clear shift between 2020 and 2024, with greater emphasis on brownfield railway projects—focused on rehabilitating, upgrading, or expanding existing infrastructure—rather than embarking on entirely new builds.
This pivot was largely driven by tighter fiscal constraints and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda prioritized the revival of ageing rail systems, while Tanzania stood out by commissioning the first phase of its new standard gauge railway linking Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 2024.
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The report also highlighted the uneven development of rail infrastructure across the continent, with most operational networks concentrated in North and Southern Africa. True regional integration remains limited, primarily confined to the SADC’s interconnected Cape gauge system in Southern Africa.
- Meanwhile, Sudan’s railway network has been severely impacted by ongoing conflict, leaving only 600 kilometres operational out of a total 6,000-kilometre system.
- Additionally, 13 African countries—many of them landlocked—still lack direct rail access to seaports, underscoring major gaps in trade connectivity.
- Despite incremental progress, roughly 15% of Africa’s railway network remains non-functional. Still, the AFC report suggests that the continent’s rail sector is on the cusp of transformation.
With strategic investment and deeper cross-border collaboration, African railways could evolve from colonial-era extractive routes into vital conduits linking farms, factories, and inland markets to global supply chains.
