The Belt and Road Initiative Celebrates 10 Years: The Journey of China and Uganda Cooperation in Summary
By Alan Collins Mpewo
Looking to the earlier years before 2023 looks nearer, like yesterday, and yet when the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013, making it thus far would seem unachievable. It is 10 years now that the initiative has endured. It has withstood all possible forms of hurdles along the way, especially from the foreign antagonism towards China. The outright goal of BRI remains connecting the world and easing trade and movement of goods and services. Akin to the silk route that connected the major parts of Euro-Asia, the BRI has done much in bringing various countries together, with a record connection of more than150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed up for the project. It also covers a third of the world’s GDP and more than three-fourths of the countries in the world.
To date, BRI has worked on more than 3000 cooperation projects among BRI economies, which has resulted into easing of trade and movement of goods and services resulting into investments of close to one trillion USD which has helped in job creation among participating countries and also by extension helped in reducing poverty.
Infrastructure development with focus on roads, railways, ports, airports and energy infrastructure are some of major projects the BRI has supported over the past 10 years.
The infrastructural set-up in Africa by China speaks for itself. It’s from that point of line that Uganda, just like other few countries, can now be certain that the oil dream is yet to be achieved. Chinese capital has been a go by, and what is most interesting, is that China levels granting access to their manpower and technology. This has been done with Uganda following the principle of mutual benefits and respect. China understands the fact that you can’t have sustainable development without proper infrastructure. Indeed, Chinese people have two common saying that; “要想富” , “先修路” loosely translated; “Better roads lead to better life.” and “Build roads if you want to get rich.” I am convinced right understanding explains China’s historic success story and as a way of building a community of shared future for mankind in the new era, China is sharing their experience supporting willing partners through especially through the Belt and Road Initiative which has made infrastructure development a priority.
It should be understood that Uganda being one of the first African countries to establish relations with China, has benefited more than most of her counterparts. Though it is still work in progress, with Chinese hand, today, Uganda has descent road networks spread almost in all parts of the country from the North to south, East to West and Central. China’s financing to Uganda has not only been in the road infrastructure, but also other projects such as in energy and gas. Karuma and Isimba hydropower dams are part of the major successes under this initiative. For a country like Uganda that has seen a great shift in its economic priorities, industrialization has always been a major factor to consider. Because of this, electricity supply needed to be increased across all parts of the country. After the commissioning of the Isimba dams, Uganda’s electricity capacity has grown and it is expected the country will have more especially after commissioning the nearly complete Karuma dam.
Before the Kampala-Entebbe express way was completed, transportation to and from Entebbe which doubles as Uganda’s aerial entry point was filled with much time spent on road. This equally had an effect on those who would later choose to access further areas via Lake Victoria, accounting for the much time spent on road. The story has changed in great measures. The new express way was financed by China with the understanding that time spent would be less, in order to expedite transportation of services and goods to the Airport so that they would see their export to the international market. With completion of Entebbe expressway, the time spent on the road is now about 30 minutes down from about 2 hours during heavy traffic jam.
Industrialization is not known anymore for what it was in Uganda, many years ago. Uganda had for a long time felt comfortable dealing with foreign made products than its locally made. This obviously is accounted for by many factors such as less expertise, technological challenges, and finances, and yet, Uganda’s potential to produce raw materials is unquestionable. China’s belt and road initiative has greatly changed that status quo. Organization is now a virtue, and this is seen from the scattered industrial parks by Chinese investors. This was long overdue because there needed to be a formal set-up for the industries and their professionals to converge together and carry out business while enjoying benefits granted to them in a centralized environment.
It goes without saying therefore, that while all the above are often cited, that the oil dream is yet to become the greatest success story of the two countries. The Albertine region of Uganda will soon be the hub that supplies oil, joining other global players. It cannot be said enough, of what the proceeds of the oil exportation can do for Uganda. Education, medical access, industrialization, energy and gas, and much more, if the finances are well used. The bottom line is the reduction in the unemployment rate of Uganda. Uganda’s unemployment rate stands almost equal to the employment rate, which leaves questions as to what exact extent can it be tackled. Since the growth of Chinese projects, unemployment has greatly reduced and more success is yet to be realized with the coming up of more projects under the initiative.
Much can be said about the Belt and Road Initiative and its impact to Uganda but what stands out presently is the fact that it has withstood for 10 years while positively impacting not just Uganda but over 150 Countries. It is with sincerity that the key players keep the pace for more years to come, because there is more to gain, than losing.
Alan Collins Mpewo is a Senior Research Fellow, Development Watch Center
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