Insight: The Political Economy of Shared Regional Infrastructure

At the height of Rwanda border closure, DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi came to Uganda with a heavy heart after DR Congo got deprived of its lifeline by a conflict it had nothing do with. It was a spat between two neighbors, whose effects could be felt across the great lakes region. Everybody was affected, though Eastern Congo was hit most because it majorly depends on Uganda. This was a wake-up call to both Uganda and Congo to fast track the infrastructure protocols that would establish shared regional amenities. At the bilateral talks between the two heads of state, it was agreed to jointly build bridges and 1,200 kilometers of roads in the Eastern Congo cities, Goma, Bunia and Beni.

There have been critical voices questioning the rationale of Uganda building roads and bridges in Congo yet some areas in the country have poor roads. Granted, the clamor for better roads is plausible, but a myriad of considerations are weighed in the process of decision making ranging from geopolitics, economics, security, health, etc. Economically in 2019, Uganda got $513 million from cross-border trade. For a start, 200kms of the road will be built by Uganda and Congo will undertake the maintenance costs starting from Bunagana to Goma. Eastern  Congo is twice the size of Uganda, a big market that mostly depends on informal trade, the creation of regulated border points will both organize trade and tax collection. Traders use ungazetted areas to smuggle goods across the border, thus depriving Uganda of the taxes and distorting the trade figures.

Eastern Congo has been a hotbed of military insurgence. Engaging these belligerent forces is a challenge due to lack of access roads. This is not the first attempt to create “security routes” in neighboring countries. At the height of the Kony insurgence, access roads were opened in southern Sudan to facilitate troop movements. As a region, peace is paramount to all.  Peace and trade are conjoined at the hips, without peace, trade cannot flourish, but to achieve peace certain imperatives must be crafted to align its drivers, one of which is infrastructure. Imagine the greater part of Eastern Congo and South Sudan as a market for Uganda is a mouthwatering dream. That trade zone is five times bigger than the market of Uganda.

Regional infrastructure integration is not only in Congo. Uganda took a decision to build a market in South Sudan to boost the cross border trade between the two countries. This is a strategic decision given that South Sudan is taking long to stabilize politically. It will take some time before it builds capacity for self-reliance. During the era of President, Amin Dada, Kenya strategically developed Nakuru targeting the Uganda market. Another example of regional infrastructure synergy is the oil pipeline being built through Tanzania. It is a joint undertaking of the two countries. Each stands to benefit from the proceeds this project will generate.

It should be noted however that such regional undertakings are not peculiar to Uganda. China’s “one belt one Road”(OBOR) Initiative is a foreign policy and economic strategy focused on jointly building efficient transport routes connecting major seaports along the belt. The belt involves 138 countries covering five continents. The target is to facilitate Chinese trade all over the world because it knows that these countries are not able to fund such infrastructure in their respective budgets. The countries will enjoy the infrastructure but the economic accolades will accrue to China. The trade volumes will boost the economic dominance of world trade. China has so far spent $200bn on the project and the estimated total cost is $1.3trillion by 2027.

Egypt as a dependent on the Nile basin has heavily invested in the seamless flow and monitoring of water levels in countries through which it winds. The purpose of this is to ensure its interests are secure. An uninterrupted flow of the waters is its pathway to food security through irrigation and industrial use. Its current altercations with Ethiopia about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is about safeguarding its interests. Egypt foots the bill of dredging River Nile in the entire Nile basin. Desilting is an expensive undertaking, but because of the economic dividends, River Nile offers, Egypt is ready to shoulder the burden.

In the Karamoja region, Kenya took an initiative to open up roads that link Lodwar in Turkana county to areas on its border with Uganda after realizing that the traders in the region relate more with Kenya than Uganda for supplies due to the poor infrastructure than before the current magnificent road network in the region. Kenya weighed the benefits in terms of trade volumes that would accrue if such roads were opened to ease movement. Indeed the border areas developed despite the fact that these areas were far away from the center.

All countries the world over, are now targeting economic spillovers while investing regardless of territorial borders. The capital inflows we envoy are a result of a business decision taken in foreign capitals to expand opportunities for them to make money as we enjoy job opportunities, taxes, and essential goods that we would otherwise import. Therefore, we can treat the DR Congo roads like any foreign industry built-in Uganda by foreigners. It is not that their home countries are full of industries, but it is a strategic decision to spread wide the business net.