EAC urged to build roads
Apr 28, 2010
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked leaders of the East African Community (EAC) states to consider energy and infrastructure as the number one priority in transforming the region.
By David Mugabe
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked leaders of the East African Community (EAC) states to consider energy and infrastructure as the number one priority in transforming the region.
Museveni’s call came after Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda ratified the common market protocol. Burundi is yet to approve it.
The protocol will permit free movement of labour, capital and services.
Addressing over 2,000 business people at the 3rd East African Investment Conference at the Speke Resort Munyonyo yesterday, Museveni said if the region sorts out its electricity and railway system, the annual growth rate can improve by about 13%. Currently the region’s growth rate is at 7%.
“In the last forty years, there has been no railway built in Africa except the Tazara in Tanzania. Awareness of the crucial role played by electricity and the railway is the core of the renaissance of Africa,†Museveni said.
The region needs about $74b to revive the roads, railway and water systems.
This money is almost equal to the region’s GDP, which stands at about $75b.
Museveni urged the partner states to unite and rebuild the region’s infrastructure.
Earlier, Tanzanian minister of the EAC and chairperson of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Diodorus Kamala, had said financing the railway and road master plan remained a challenge, and private-public partnership was the best option.
Museveni said the engineering department of the Ugandan army would kick-start the rebuilding of the railway network.
“When we go to the private sector, they quote exorbitant prices. Why can’t we rebuild the railways ourselves?†Museveni asked.
According to experts, the absence of a vibrant railway system in Africa has been one of the greatest economic tragedies of the continent.
The strength of East Africa is the abundance of high value mineral deposits like those of gold, copper and oil. These require cheap and abundant electricity and the railway for processing and transporting, Museveni said.
“Let us deal with the real issues which are keeping this region in poverty,†he advised.
Commenting on the growth of the region, Uganda’s minister of the EAC Eriya Kategaya, said foreign direct investments to the EAC had increased from $693m in 2002 to $1.7b in 2008.
“The most rewarding achievement is the intra-East Africa trade,†he added.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked leaders of the East African Community (EAC) states to consider energy and infrastructure as the number one priority in transforming the region.
Museveni’s call came after Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda ratified the common market protocol. Burundi is yet to approve it.
The protocol will permit free movement of labour, capital and services.
Addressing over 2,000 business people at the 3rd East African Investment Conference at the Speke Resort Munyonyo yesterday, Museveni said if the region sorts out its electricity and railway system, the annual growth rate can improve by about 13%. Currently the region’s growth rate is at 7%.
“In the last forty years, there has been no railway built in Africa except the Tazara in Tanzania. Awareness of the crucial role played by electricity and the railway is the core of the renaissance of Africa,†Museveni said.
The region needs about $74b to revive the roads, railway and water systems.
This money is almost equal to the region’s GDP, which stands at about $75b.
Museveni urged the partner states to unite and rebuild the region’s infrastructure.
Earlier, Tanzanian minister of the EAC and chairperson of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Diodorus Kamala, had said financing the railway and road master plan remained a challenge, and private-public partnership was the best option.
Museveni said the engineering department of the Ugandan army would kick-start the rebuilding of the railway network.
“When we go to the private sector, they quote exorbitant prices. Why can’t we rebuild the railways ourselves?†Museveni asked.
According to experts, the absence of a vibrant railway system in Africa has been one of the greatest economic tragedies of the continent.
The strength of East Africa is the abundance of high value mineral deposits like those of gold, copper and oil. These require cheap and abundant electricity and the railway for processing and transporting, Museveni said.
“Let us deal with the real issues which are keeping this region in poverty,†he advised.
Commenting on the growth of the region, Uganda’s minister of the EAC Eriya Kategaya, said foreign direct investments to the EAC had increased from $693m in 2002 to $1.7b in 2008.
“The most rewarding achievement is the intra-East Africa trade,†he added.