KAMPALA, June 20 (Reuters) - 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)