China-Uganda Relations Cooperation: A Michael Jordan Philosophy – we all win
By Ssemanda Abdurahim
Talking of China-Uganda diplomatic relations which were established way back in 1962, and now almost 63 years, you can practically realise that they have been strongly operating on a Michael Jordan principle. The ranked “greatest basketball player of all time” who played for fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan once remarked that “there is no ‘I’ in team but there is in win.” Similarly, China-Uganda diplomatic relations have always had this Jordan principle as their wheel of operation. Critically analysing this, China and Uganda work together and mutually as a team without any aspect of individualism other than winning together as a team. Put differently, as Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly observed, China-Africa cooperation is founded on principle of mutual benefit.
For instance, when the construction of Entebbe Express Highway which was constructed with funds from China’s Exim Bank of China, the ministry of works and transport in Uganda clearly stated that the main project’s objective was to provide efficient mass-transit route between the vital cities of Kampala and Entebbe in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) and decongest Kampala. Upon its completion, the 49.56km project sparked off a manifestation of 2,206,558 users between January and April 2022 as registered by Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). While one may argue that it was not a grant but a loan, still, the completion of this mega project which has improved in mobility of goods and services plus other multiplier effects that comes with easiness in mobility of goods and services in multiple ways makes the project a double win to the country and to us as citizens.
Additionally, UNRA collected a total of 13 billion Uganda shillings from tolling the Kampala expressway between January 8, 2022 and May 24, 2022. In that same year, UNRA’s communications officer indicated that the average daily 20,000 passages had surpassed the projected daily average of 13,000 passages. These included the incoming and outgoing passengers, taxi operators, visitors and Entebbe residents. With this manifestation of the project’s great usage by Ugandans, the immediate questions in one’s mind include; is China’s development assistance needed in African countries’ infrastructure projects? do projects developed with Chinese assistance meet and answer needs of users? Are such projects able to sustain themselves? In contexts of Uganda’s Entebbe Express Highway, the answer to these questions is a resounding YES. However, if all such questions are skipped, there is no way we are never going to be vulnerable to negative framing and narratives which are not backed but often brands China’s development assistance especially infrastructure as debt-trap. We will not have the required immunity to realise that China has efficiently played its part.
It should also be remembered that the Entebbe expressway is not the only project that has been funded by the People’s Republic of China in Uganda. Between the years 2009 and 2012, a one hundred beds capacity hospital, Naguru was built at an approximate cost of US$8 million by the Government of China as a gift to Uganda. Its other name, China-Uganda Friendship Hospital stands as an emblem to reflect the existence of good diplomatic ties between the two countries. On continental level, China has funded similar projects in countries such as South Sudan, Sierra Leone Zimbabwe among many others.
However, China has not stopped at only establishing such projects but also severally provides medical assistance by sending medical experts to different African countries. To be specific in Uganda, China has been sending medical teams to Uganda since 1983 to share knowledge and skills with Ugandan counterparts apart and also treating Ugandan patients. Relatedly, China has also been a key and reliable partner to African countries while battling epidemic sand pandemics. A case in point is during Ebola outbreak in West Africa which ended in 2016. In Uganda, China’s contribution in battling Ebola and Covid-19 pandemic are still fresh among many.
It is therefore paramount that the critics of China-Africa cooperation and their disciples first pay attention to questions like; are China funded projects in Africa helping African countries to realise their development aspirations? Are such projects helping citizens? Otherwise, China should be seen as a player who promises his coach that he will score a goal for his club and indeed he scores. Whether the player’s club loses or not, this should not be a blame on him. For he promised and fulfilled . The rest should be examined by trying to understand what made the team lose yet it had a goal other than why did the player fail to make his team win. If this kind of analysis is paid attention to, then everyone will realise how China-Africa diplomatic relations operate on a Michael Jordan principle – the min-win cooperation.
Ssemanda Abdurahim is a junior research fellow at Development watch Centre.
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