Kenya’s big vision for a ‘coalition of the willing (CoW)’ agreement with Uganda and Rwanda to build a major rail line and oil pipeline that would invigorate and open up East Africa’s economy may be going up in smoke as its partners look elsewhere for more economically pragmatic paths to achieve their goals.
First it was Uganda. In March, East Africa’s third largest economy pulled the plug on a tentative agreement with Kenya for an oil pipeline deal. Desperate bids to save the deal fell through as Tanzania, the new ally in Uganda’s oil pipeline deal said it would expedite the process for a lot less less than the Kenyan route had been estimated. Then Rwanda did what took both Kenya and Uganda by surprise: opting out of the standard gauge railway (SGR)with the two partners, once ‘bosom friends’.
In 2013, soon after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta ascended to power, he marshaled Uganda and Rwanda into a ‘coalition of the willing’ arrangement in which they initiated a raft of infrastructure, telecommunication, defense and tourism-promotion projects in East Africa’s Northern Corridor. The Northern Corridor links Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and gives the two landlocked countries as well as the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan access to the sea through Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.
In 2013, soon after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta ascended to power, he marshaled Uganda and Rwanda into a ‘coalition of the willing’ arrangement in which they initiated a raft of infrastructure, telecommunication, defense and tourism-promotion projects in East Africa’s Northern Corridor. The Northern Corridor links Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and gives the two landlocked countries as well as the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan access to the sea through Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.
In 2013, soon after Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta ascended to power, he marshaled Uganda and Rwanda into a ‘coalition of the willing’ arrangement in which they initiated a raft of infrastructure, telecommunication, defense and tourism-promotion projects in East Africa’s Northern Corridor. The Northern Corridor links Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and gives the two landlocked countries as well as the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan access to the sea through Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.

Gatete, however, said Rwanda would continue using the port of Mombasa as it has always done. “Our trade goes through Dar es Salaam and Mombasa … We will need both of them.”

Kenyan officials have downplayed the exit of Rwanda from the rail deal with Kenya and Uganda, stating that the rail may still terminate inKisumu, Kenya’s city located along the shores of Lake Victoria. Cargo hauled by trains from Mombasa or Nairobi would then be loaded onto ships at the port in Kisumu and transported across the lake to Kampala and Jinja in Uganda or Mwanza in Tanzania.

“It is price and efficiency that will inform who is the winner eventually. So this is not about countries competing, it is about countries creating a competitive environment and the rest is for business people to decide,” Kenya Railways Corporation managing director Atanas Maina as quoted in local media.

Gatete, however, said Rwanda would continue using the port of Mombasa as it has always done. “Our trade goes through Dar es Salaam and Mombasa … We will need both of them.”

Kenyan officials have downplayed the exit of Rwanda from the rail deal with Kenya and Uganda, stating that the rail may still terminate inKisumu, Kenya’s city located along the shores of Lake Victoria. Cargo hauled by trains from Mombasa or Nairobi would then be loaded onto ships at the port in Kisumu and transported across the lake to Kampala and Jinja in Uganda or Mwanza in Tanzania.

g“It is price and efficiency that will inform who is the winner eventually. So this is not about countries competing, it is about countries creating a competitive environment and the rest is for business people to decide,” Kenya Railways Corporation managing director Atanas Maina as quoted in local media.

Source: Quartz Africa

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