KAMPALA—Uganda will begin refurbishing its century-old rail network this month to boost bulk cargo transportation, after China halted $2.2 billion in funding for a new standard-gauge line, a senior rail official said on Nov. 6.
The rehabilitation will be carried out in phases over several years and cost at least 241 million euros ($267 million), Charles Kateeba, managing director of the state-run Uganda Railways Corporation, told Reuters.
The European Union has given a grant of 21.5 million euros and the railway corporation is talking to international development lenders for the rest.
Former colonial power Britain built the meter-gauge, 1,266 km (790 mile) network a century ago, mainly to move copper and other commodities.
But the network fell into disrepair during years of political upheaval and economic instability.
Now old, dilapidated engines hiss and clatter as they trundle between crumbling platforms, pulling drab carriages behind them. In many places, grass has grown over disused or missing tracks.
“Due to lack of maintenance over the years, most of the network is now in disuse,” Kateeba said. “We shall replace some areas which have been either removed by vandals or are badly worn.”
China Hopes Dashed
Bulk cargo transporters have been eager for cheaper transport, but China did not offer funding for the Ugandan section of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) regional project.It was originally designed to connect Kenya’s Indian Ocean seaport of Mombasa to a vast hinterland including Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.
Kenya has developed a section of the SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi with funding from China, but had to fund an expansion itself.
Ugandan authorities have been negotiating with China for more than five years, hoping for funds to construct its own SGR branch. But Kateeba said several factors, including Uganda’s delayed oil production, delayed a credit deal.
Uganda discovered 6 billion barrels worth of crude oil more than 12 years ago in the west, but disagreements between the government and oil firms over tax and development strategy have repeatedly delayed production.
China’s CNOOC co-owns the fields with other firms. The Ugandan government now says it expects production to start by 2022 at the earliest.
If oil production had begun, Kateeba said, economic growth would mean “we would be able to really afford the credit.”
“China is not giving us charity,” he said.
Now China is examining whether repayments could be adjusted, costs lowered or the implementation period pushed back, he said.
China Debt Trap
The Epoch Times reported that Ugandan politicians are calling on the government to scale down borrowing from China. On Aug. 29, Ugandan members of Parliament on the National Economy Committee said in a statement, “The committee noted that since China’s loans are non-concessional, they increase the country’s debt burden much faster.”Uganda owes China more than $3 billion, according to the Uganda Debt Network (UDN). The debt owed to China arose from financing for infrastructure projects, such as the construction of roads and hydropower dams.
Most of the loans from China are non-concessional and are to be paid back over a short period of time (on average 10 years), yet they are invested in long-term projects.
Economy analyst and Makerere University professor Aaron Mukwaya said Ugandans will have to bite the bullet at the end of the day. He said that if China has already confiscated property over non-payment of debts in some countries, then it can also happen in Uganda.
“China has a plan of dominating the whole of Africa, Asia, and some parts of Europe through giving loans, constructing infrastructures, and introducing telecommunication technology 5G. It is also promoting teaching Chinese in the countries it gives aid. In addition to giving aid, many Chinese are also coming to Uganda with plans of future domination,” Mukwaya told The Epoch Times.
