By Francis Mugerwa, Kampala
Kampala
— The East African Community (EAC) needs $78b (about Shs282 trillion)
in the next 10 years to fund more than 200 infrastructure projects in
the five-member states.
Under the projects,
the key ones including the Standard Gauge Railway, hydropower, oil and
gas projects across the region, are to cost $62.2b (about Shs224
trillion). Leaders from
Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, who met
yesterday in Kampala, said the revenue will be internally and externally
raised through borrowing and also Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Burden
President Museveni
said the PPP model was not working well because private investors were
borrowing expensive capital to invest in infrastructure projects such as
hydropower generation, which in the end burdens consumers.
"PPP is good, but
we need to agree on how it should be used and in which areas. It can
help build infrastructure, but for crucial ones like electricity,
railway and laying of internet cables, we've to be careful. We cannot
afford high costs of electricity," he said.
He cited the
Bujagali hydro-power project that is run on a PPP model as an expensive
partnership for both government and industries.
"We had agreed with
an American company to produce per unit cost at four American cents,
but my people went and signed with another company at 11 cents," he
said.
Similar warning were echoed by Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli who said the region could raise its own funds in some projects.
Mr. Magufuli added that PPPs have their problems and warned that EAC government must ensure own delivery of projects as Tanzania is doing and leave very few projects for PPPs.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had earlier said he was a strong believer in the PPP model. "I am a strong
believer in PPP. But I have a problem of bureaucracy in government which
frustrates our development partners," he said.
Rwanda's Minister
for Infrastructure who represented President Paul Kagame also said the
PPP model was working well in his country.
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