In this 2006 photo, Chinese nationals living in Uganda wave the two
country’s flags at the Entebbe International Airport as they await the
arrival of China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in the country.
Photo/Morgan Mbabazi
By BENON HERBERT OLUKA Special Correspondent
In Summary
- Analysts say besides its large appetite for the raw materials exported by countries like Uganda, China has managed to develop close economic ties with the East African nation because of its non-interventionist approach in the politics of countries with which it is doing business.
At the time the government of China started the
construction of a 40,000-seater stadium on the outskirts of Kampala in
April 1993 — hitherto Uganda’s largest sporting arena — there were only a
handful of Chinese investors in East Africa’s third largest economy.
The $36 million facility was one of its first
major infrastructure projects in Uganda, and trade between the two
countries was on a small scale.
Although China was one of the first countries to
establish ties with independent Uganda in 1962, statistics from the
Chinese embassy in Kampala show that the volume of trade between the two
countries never exceeded $10 million before the 1990s.
A little over 20 years later, the relationship
between Uganda and China has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then,
China has offered aid which has helped Uganda pave hundreds of
kilometres of its roads, and construct a $6 million hospital in Kampala,
an agricultural technology demonstration centre, as well as the multi
storeyed buildings serving as the headquarters for Uganda’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Office of the President.
Speaking at celebrations to mark the 64th
anniversary of China’s National Day at the Chinese embassy in Kampala
last October, Uganda’s Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, outlined the wide
reach of the Asian economic giant’s support to the country.
“China is firmly supporting Uganda’s development
agenda through increased trade, infrastructure development, and exchange
of expertise as well as impacting skills to our people,” he said.
That support has played a significant part in
enabling China, the world’s second largest economy after the US, to tap
into trade opportunities in Uganda.
According to the latest available official
statistics, bilateral trade between Uganda and China reached $538
million in 2012, representing a nearly 35 per cent increase compared
with the year before.
Today, nearly every street in Kampala has a
business with connections to China or, at the very least, is selling
items imported from the Asian giant.
Among the major sectors where private and
state-owned Chinese companies have invested heavily is electricity
generation, where three Chinese companies are constructing
hydro-electricity generation plants in Karuma, Isimba and Ayago; oil
production, at the Kingfisher Oil Field in Lake Albert; construction of
more than 500 kilometres of Uganda’s road network; development of the
manufacturing, telecommunications as well as the information and
communications technology (ICT) sectors.
The $3.4 billion funding for the three
hydro-electricity plants was reportedly secured by President Yoweri
Museveni directly from China’s President Xi Jinping, when the two
leaders met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa
early last year.
In a meeting with an 80-man delegation from
China’s National People’s Congress last September, Prime Minister
Mbabazi, who doubles as the secretary general of the ruling National
Resistance Movement party in Uganda, noted that China has in the past
financed projects in Uganda to the tune of $40 million.
“Uganda has benefited from development finance
from the China Exim Bank, which has facilitated the country’s pursuit of
strategic national development objectives,” he said.
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