The East African Community (EAC) plans to significantly modernise its ailing railway systems as it looks for massive returns from the envisaged greater free trade area of eastern and southern Africa.
According to President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, countries of eastern and southern Africa are resolved to create a huge free trade area spanning from Egypt to South Africa..
But without a reliable and efficient railway network, he said, their ambition would be unattainable.
“Our resolve to move to a single market will not succeed without a wider connectivity of the existing railway lines from Alexandria to Cape Town,” Kikwete last week told a two-day regional conference on revitalisation of the railway systems of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Co-sponsored by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the conference brought together in Dar es Salaam railway operators, government officials, development partners and private sector representatives to consider the proposed East African Railways Master Plan.
The EAC partner states already have individual country plans under way for development of new lines. CPCS Transcom of Canada recently completed the master plan which the meeting studied in order to decide on the way forward.
Preparation of the East African Railway Master Plan was a directive by the Summit of the EAC Heads of State for the development of a regional strategy to revamp the railways after decades of neglect and poor management.
Indicative costs of carrying out the Plan, including development of proposed railroads, have been put at $35 million, of which approximately 75 percent would be funded by the public sector. Part of the proposed lines would link landlocked Burundi and Rwanda to East African seaports.
But, in view of the envisaged great investment, the president called on the private sector operators to play their part alongside governments. He noted that the absence of effective participation of the sector was a matter of concern.
Kikwete underlined the capability of the private sector to fill the gap in financing the development of railways in the region and pointed to the need for constant focus on the regional capital markets and the East African Development Bank as potential sources of capital for development projects.
“The present regional network is too old, old fashioned and inadequate to meet our present needs. It needs modernisation and expansion as a matter of urgency,” Kikwete said.
Part of the network was built between 1805 and 1914 across Tanzania by the German colonial rulers of the then Deutsche Ostafrika (Dutch East Africa) that included Burundi and Rwanda as one colony. The British colonial government built the line running from Mombasa port in Kenya to Kampala, Uganda, between 1896 and 1931.
That’s why the president challenged the meeting participants to generate ideas and come up with pertinent proposals on how to modernise the railroads to the standard gauge instead of the narrow gauge which limits the freight carrying capacity.
In a desperate bid to keep their rolling stock operating, the governments of East Africa resorted to concessionary leasing of the railways to foreign operators. This option, however, has proved to be fraught with managerial difficulties and constant conflict with local workers.
Describing the rail networks as a linchpin in regional integration, Kikwete urged the meeting participants to give serious thought to the issue of concessions. “We have been going through difficulties in the management of our railways [because of concessions]. This conference will be of immense value if you come up with workable solutions,” he added.
Meanwhile, the AfDB has confirmed an $8.5 million credit to finance investment studies for the Isaka – Kigali; Keza – Gitega – Musongati proposed railway lines.
For landlocked Burundi and Rwanda, and even eastern DR Congo, improvement of both rail and road transport infrastructure in the rest of East Africa is very critical to their socio-economic development.
Construction of new roads and railroads will definitely create job and business opportunities for many people. Things will turn out better if EAC member countries not only double their current output but also add value to both traditional and non-traditional commodities.
In order to keep trains running there must be sufficient loads of freight and passengers to carry. The generally slow economic growth of the region is a serious constraint that all sectors need to address and reverse so that each country can post a double digit growth yearly.
According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, almost all African countries experienced positive GDP growth over the last decade, but the East Africa sub-region recorded the highest average growth rate of 7.1 per cent during 2004-2007.
The Commission has specifically noted that Tanzania and Uganda were among the top performing economies during this period. Such a record, coupled with the willingness of the region’s development partners to prop up the modernisation of the railway system, gives early signs of optimism.