Kenya could lose out again as Kigali chooses the Central Corridor owing
to failure to prioritise Kampala —Kigali section in standard gauge
railway plans. PHOTO | FILE |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
By ALLAN OLINGO
In Summary
- Kenya could lose out again as Kigali chooses the Central Corridor owing to failure to prioritise Kampala —Kigali section in SGR plans.
- It is understood that Rwanda now feels its interests are best served through the Tanzanian SGR due to its short distance and Uganda’s preference on the railway network to Juba over the Kigali-Kampala connection. It is, however, not clear if Rwanda would still have an interest in the Kigali-Kampala railway as an alternative.
Rwanda is in talks with Tanzania and Burundi for a shared
standard gauge railway through the Central Corridor after it realised
that Uganda was not prioritising the Kampala-Kigali connection that
would have seen it transport its goods through Kenya.
The EastAfrican has learnt that Rwanda’s Infrastructure
Permanent Secretary Christian Rwankunda held a series of meetings with
senior officials from Tanzania and Burundi in Dar es Salaam last week to
thrash out the details of the Central Corridor project. The meeting was
with lands, legal and infrastructure officials drawn from Tanzania and
Burundi.
These meetings followed another one in Arusha in March, of
the joint technical monitoring committee, which was attended by
infrastructure ministers from the three countries.
“The ministers commended the prevailing commitment among the
three partner states to realise the implementation of the railway
project and its importance to foster physical integration of transport
modes, economic growth and improved social services in the sub region,”
said a statement issued by the joint secretariat of the three countries.
But it did not say much apart from their commitment to fast-track the
project.
The three countries are said to be looking at mid next year as
the starting time for the construction of the railway, with the
tendering expected to start in the next two months.
On Monday, Jules Ndenga, Rwanda’s acting special projects
implementation unit co-ordinator at the Ministry of Infrastructure, said
the three countries were looking for a consultant to advise on the
drafting of the tender documents for the railway deal.
“We had a joint technical monitoring committee meeting in
Arusha, aimed at extending the contract for the transaction advisory
services that had expired at the end of last year till the end of April.
Thereafter, the three countries will get a consultant to advise on the
documentation for this public private venture,” Mr Ndenga said.
Race to Juba
Uganda is keen to fund the construction of the
Tororo-Gulu-Pakwach line ahead of the SGR connection with Kenya at
Malaba because of the big economic interests the country has in South
Sudan. This would delay the Kigali-Kampala line.
Nairobi and Kampala said to be in a quiet rivalry to connect their SGR
segments to South Sudan as Uganda-Rwanda leg is deemed uneconomical. TEA
GRAPHIC |
In 2014, Rift Valley Railways, the concessionaire for the
Uganda-Kenya railway, completed the rehabilitation of the Tororo-Pakwach
line, which has not been in use for the past 18 years.
'Coalition of the Willing'
In 2013, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan initiated the
Northern Corridor Integration Projects with a view to speeding up
regional integration. Key projects under this initiative, which came to
be referred to as the “Coalition of the Willing” included the SGR from
Mombasa to Kampala, Kigali and Juba; and a common crude oil pipeline to
serve the new oil discoveries in Kenya and Uganda, and the existing oil
fields in South Sudan.
In addition to the infrastructure projects, the countries formed
clusters to handle ICT, the oil refinery, political federation,
Financing, power generation, commodity exchanges, human resource
capacity building and land. Other clusters would handle immigration,
trade, tourism, labour and services, the Single Customs Territory,
Mutual Defence Co-operation, Mutual Peace and Security Co-operation and
airspace management
On infrastructure, Tanzania and Burundi formed the Central Corridor that also planned a railway project.
Uganda’s recent decision to use Tanzania’s Tanga port, and
Rwanda’s plan for the Central Corridor are, therefore, off the Northern
Corridor script.
It is understood that Rwanda now feels its interests are best
served through the Tanzanian SGR due to its short distance and Uganda’s
preference on the railway network to Juba over the Kigali-Kampala
connection. It is, however, not clear if Rwanda would still have an
interest in the Kigali-Kampala railway as an alternative.
Uganda’s Minister of Works and Transport John Byabagambi said
the country was keen on working on the Kampala-Malaba link at the
moment, then the connection to Juba through Pakwach because of the
economic viability.
“We have funding issues for the railways line at the moment. If
we had financing, we would have developed these three connections
(including Kampala-Kigali) at the same time as a matter of priority,”
Mr Byabagambi said.
'No economic case for SGR'
Meanwhile, a World Bank report casts doubt on the economic
viability of the standard gauge railway projects being pursued by
the region, noting that the investment could only to be justified if the
new infrastructure could attract additional freight of 20-55 million
tonnes per year.
The report produced in 2013 by the Africa transport unit at the World Bank titled The Economics of Rail Gauge in the East Africa Community
shows that the volumes of the forecasts undertaken for the EAC railway
master plan and Central line in Tanzania are unattainable over the
medium to longer term.
“Based on these assumptions there is no economic or financial
case for standard gauge in the EAC at this time. A refurbished metre
gauge network would appear to be the most appropriate option in economic
and financial terms, and could easily accommodate forecast traffic up
to 2030, with lower investment requirements,” the report says.
The World Bank team said the rehabilitation of the existing
railway network would see the region achieve an annual tonnage of 5.5
million, with the expected costs per kilometres sitting at $0.18 million
per kilometres.
“However, the maximum speed achievable would be 80 kilometres
per hour. The other alternative considered were refurbishing or
upgrading the railway network to the same gauge, which would achieve
speed limits of 120kph with an annual maximum load capacity of 60
million tonnes. This would cost the $0.49 million per kilometre.
“The third alternative the regional governments had was
upgrading the network to standard gauge on the same alignment. This
solution is more expensive up front, but there are cost savings through
reduction in the amount of new land required. It would achieve a maximum
speed limit of 130kph with a maximum load capacity of 60 million tonnes
annually. This would cost $1.5 million per kilometre,” the report said.
The last alternative, which the regional governments chose,
involves the construction of a standard gauge railway on a new right of
way. The World Bank team said this option requires additional investment
in land and structures, and new right-of-way construction.
“This alternative predicates axle loads in the order of 25
tonnes per axles and a maximum operating speed of up to 120kph. Again,
based on these assumptions, the estimated maximum carrying capacity of
the current network would exceed 60 million tonnes per year. The
estimated investment cost per kilometre will be $3.25 million,” the
report said.
Kenya has seen low freight volumes within the cargo business
with Rift Valley Railways, the current rail operator, moving an average
of 1.8 million tonnes out of the total 24.8 million tonnes handled at
the port of Mombasa in 2014.
The region has also seen the tonnage freight volumes that are
moving via rail continue to fall significantly over the years from 60
per cent of port cargo in the 1980s to an average of 5 per cent
currently
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