A pearl that will take on added luster

Ugandan president's visit to china paves way for closer ties

When Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, left China recently after taking part in the Boao Forum for Asia, he left the country with ties between China and Africa very much strengthened.

During Museveni's stay, not only did he meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, he also delivered an hour-long speech at the Uganda-China Business Forum in Beijing. In the speech he talked about Uganda's investment policies and about infrastructure construction and integration in Africa, and he urged Ugandan ministers to work to accommodate Chinese entrepreneurs in their endeavors.

He also did interviews with Chinese media, building an image of an open country that welcomes investment and tourists from China.

Uganda is nicknamed the "Pearl of Africa" because large parts of Lake Victoria, the biggest freshwater lake in the continent, are located in it. The country has enjoyed GDP growth of about 5 percent a year in recent years, and growth is expected to surpass 6 percent in the 2015-16 financial year.

While Uganda can boast of stable politics and rich resources, it also rues its lack of a seaport, its bad infrastructure and its small domestic market.

The UN regards the country as one of the most underdeveloped, with GDP per capita of about $700 a year. How to turn the low-income agricultural economy into a middle-income, industrial one is a long-held dream of the country.

The government has formulated what it calls Uganda Vision 2040, setting out the improvements in infrastructure, accelerated industrialization, and higher levels of regional economic integration that it wishes to see.

That plan makes it easier for China and Uganda, and even Africa as a whole, to work more closely together for their joint prosperity.

When Xi visited Africa in 2013 he talked of the two sides' community of common interests. When Li was in Africa last year he promised that China would help the continent build railways, highways and regional aviation networks.

Both plans aim to increase connections between China and Africa, as well as connections in Africa itself. The aim is also to help China and Africa work together on two great strategic development plans: Africa's role in the One Belt One Road Initiative that aims to draw China and other countries and regions closer together, and use of China's industrial restructuring to give a fillip to Africa's industrialization.

In terms of politics, Uganda, as a longtime friend of China, can help it collaborate better with other countries in Africa. In terms of economics, Uganda is heavy on agriculture but light on manufacturing, which complements China. Museveni has shown particular interest in China's efforts to develop infrastructure to efficiently boost economic growth, something that sets a good example for others and at the same time helps China make use of its surplus production capacity.

Museveni's visit to China marked a good start to these joint efforts. During his talks with Xi and Li he said he hoped China and Uganda would try to work more closely together on industrial matters, with Uganda drawing on China's experience as Chinese businesses help build airports, hydropower stations and telecommunication stations in Uganda.

Since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1962 they have maintained a very warm friendship. A series of major projects in Uganda, including the highway that will link the capital, Kampala, to Entebbe International Airport, as well as a fishery port, a national stadium and even the office building of its foreign ministry, were all built with China's help.

Over the past decade in particular, thanks to the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, China and Uganda have strengthened collaboration in trade and technology. The Chinese embassy in Kampala says China had invested a total of $2.8 billion by last June, creating 37,000 jobs in the country. The Ugandan bureau of investments says that in late 2013, China became Uganda's largest source of planned investment. That year Sinohydro Corporation signed a contract with Uganda to build a hydropower station with capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, and its counterpart China International Water & Electric Corp signed to build one with 183,000 kW of capacity, the two contracts being worth a total of more than $2.3 billion.

To develop manufacturing in Uganda, China's non-state-owned enterprise Tian Tang Group set up Tian Tang Industrial Zone in Uganda in October 2009 and invested $8 million in the first iron and steel plant in June of the next year. The zone was built in a jungle more than 30 kilometers from Kampala. In less than four years, the group has not only finished building the industrial zone, but also built four factories there, and there are plans to build more.

Those four factories have provided local residents with some 1,400 direct jobs, and industries such as transport and retailing are expected to provide more than 10,000 additional jobs.

During Museveni's visit to China, he also took part in a contract signing between China Habor Engineering Corporation and the Ugandan Ministry of Works and Transport on building the first modern railway in Uganda. Under previous agreements, the railway line being built, which will link the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and Mombasa, its port city, would connect with the Ugandan railway network. Uganda will thus not only get access to a seaport but also propel the economic integration of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. Efforts to build an East African Community will be strengthened.

The author is a research fellow at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; a researcher at independent thinktank Chahar Institute.

( China Daily Africa Weekly 04/10/2015 page8)