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| Stakeholders review the master plan for Gulu Logistics Hub. |
The havoc that the over two
decades-long Joseph Kony-led Lord Resistance Army (LRA) war left in northern
Uganda was massive.
To some, it is one that has had
permanent scars on the region and it will for a long time be remembered as the
worst thing to have ever happened to that part of the country and Uganda as a
whole.
According to a report by The
Guardian, the rebel outfit, at its peak, displaced nearly two million people in
areas within and around northern Uganda.
“By 2007, the conflict had seen
more than 10,000 people massacred, while twice that number of children [had]
been abducted by LRA and forced to work as soldiers, porters and sex slaves,”
the report says.
However, around 2005-6 normalcy
had started to return after the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) flashed
the stubborn and now scampering LRA outfit out of the region into the jungles
of DR Congo, Central African Republic and parts of South Sudan.
To date, the rebel outfit is
still holed up in the jungles far away from our borders and security agencies
have indicated it has been greatly weakened with no capacity to mount another
insurgency or conduct raids within Uganda.
Therefore, this has given
northern Uganda the space to pick up the ruins with key sectors such as health,
transport, education and tourism showing a fair share of growth.
Beyond this, small and medium
businesses have built back to become profitable. Safe cross border trade has
also returned.
Even more interesting, the return
of peace has boosted trade with South Sudan; the second biggest destination of
Uganda’s exports in the East African region. According to statistics from the
central bank, Uganda in the 2017/18 financial year alone exported goods worth
USD 311.34 million to South Sudan compared to USD 14.54 million of imports from
the same country.
However, notwithstanding the
positive strides, the northern region which is an engine of the northern trade
corridor, serving as links to South Sudan and parts of eastern DR Congo, has
remained undeveloped.
The northern trade corridor
directly serves six countries – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and
parts of DR Congo, with 3 of them bordering the northern region thus
underscoring it as an importance trade hub. Therefore, one would imagine what
it would deliver if there are incentives to make trade better.
The good news is that this
underdevelopment might become a thing for the past if all the ‘set in motion’
trade facilitation projects and other initiatives for this region are
completed.
It is expected that before the
end of 2022, northern Uganda will have an efficient 24 hours open
one-stop-border-post (OSBP) linking Uganda to South Sudan. The region will also
have a new and effective metre gauge railway and a modern logistics hub
facility.
All these projects are to be
developed from a pool of resources raised by the government of Uganda,
Trademark East Africa, the United Kingdom’s Department for International
Development (DFID) and European Union (EU).
In essence, the three pivotal
projects mean northern Uganda and the country at large will not be the same in
terms of development.
Elegu/Nimule One Stop Border Post (OSBP).
As part of the East African
region’s sustained efforts to facilitate trade, over 10 OSBPs have been
constructed across East Africa since 2013 with funding from national
governments, and the United Kingdom’s DFID through TradeMark East Africa.
An OSBP is a border facility that
consolidates border control functions in a shared space for two countries
bordering each other thus enabling faster entry and exit of people and cargo.
The latest beneficiaries of this
OSBP program are the local community, traders and tourists plying the
Elegu/Nimule route.
“As the main gateway into South
Sudan from the port of Mombasa, the Elegu-Nimule border post is of strategic
importance to the East African region. The border is extremely slow, and Nimule
takes an average of four days to process imports,” notes a report from the
TradeMark East Africa website.
The statement which also
highlights the costs such delays impose on traders, seeks to show why it is
important to construct such as facility at Elegu/Nimule.
“These delays can be attributed
to inadequate border infrastructure, insufficient quality and quantity of
technical equipment, poor border design, and complicated procedures based on
centralized control, and multiple border organisations working in isolation,”
the report further says.
Different surveys conducted since
the OSBP concept was rolled out in the region indicate that the average border
crossing time for cargo trucks and travellers has at select borders reduced by
between 30 and 90 per cent, significantly prevented harassment of cross border
traders by officials and reduced corruption at the borders.
Therefore, it is expected that on
completion and consequent commissioning, the Elegu/Nimule OSBP will contribute
to the ‘ease of doing business in the region’ by delivering similar benefits
like the other OSBPs are doing at other entry and exit points.
In a recent interview, Ms Damali
Ssali, the Ag. Country Director TradeMark East Africa, Uganda confirmed that
the Elegu border (Uganda side of the OSBP) was complete with a technical
handover slated for 15th November 2018 while works in Nimule (South Sudan side
of the OSBP) had stalled following recurrence of pockets of instability in the
area.
“Elegu border construction has
been completed. The building will be handed over to the Uganda Revenue
Authority which is the lead agency at the border in November. For Nimule, due to the crisis is South Sudan,
construction of the refugee reception area is underway. When peace returns in
South Sudan, and funding is available, the Nimule border will be fully
constructed,” Ms Ssali noted.
Tororo-Gulu Railway.
On October 17, 2018, the EU
accepted to finance the rehabilitation of the over 400kms Tororo-Gulu metre
gauge railway.
The works are expected to start
before the end of this year and will be completed before or by 2022.
The railway line has been out of
service since 1993 due to neglect and the prolonged LRA war in northern Uganda.
As part of this commitment, the
EU has agreed to disburse a grant of EUR 21.5 million (about UGX 93 billion)
from the European Development Fund (EDF) while the Government of Uganda will
contribute counterpart funding equivalent to EUR 13.1 million (about UGX 60 billion) towards the rehabilitation of this key
transport infrastructure in the region.
“We are proud to support the
Government of Uganda’s decision to revitalise this crucial economic link,” EU
Head of Delegation to Uganda, HE Ambassador Attilio Pacifici said, noting that
this project was part of the many actions taken by the European Union to
support northern Uganda.
Such actions include the recently
launched EURs 150 million Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) as
well as the provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees and support to the
host communities.
Honourable Matia Kasaija, the
Finance minister noted that the Tororo-Gulu metre gauge railway rehabilitation
project is important for trade facilitation for Uganda and “will open up
northern Uganda, parts of DR Congo and South Sudan in terms of freight.”
During its days of service, the
Tororo-Gulu railway line was a crucial economic facility along the East African
Northern Trade Corridor linking the port of Mombasa and eastern Uganda to
northern Uganda, as well as to South Sudan and DR Congo. It is expected that it
will serve the same purpose or much more once it is completed.
Furthermore, the planned revamp
of the Tororo-Gulu railway is timely considering that the realisation of
Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) dream may take longer than earlier
anticipated. This sad reality comes at the back of China’s delayed approval of
finances for the construction of the Kenya Kisumu to Malaba SGR line which is a
must if Uganda is to make any progress.
The unfortunate development was
revealed by Hon Matia Kasaija who recently told Daily Monitor, a local
newspaper that government has ‘put on hold’ the SGR venture and has instead
turned attention to revamping the old metre-gauge railway network until
unresolved issues with Kenya and China have been concluded.
“It is apparent the SGR is going
to take us a lot of time to complete. First, we have to wait for Kenya to reach
at the Malaba [border] point then we can start,” Mr Kasaija noted.
But in a quick rejoinder, Hon
Monica Azuba Ntege, the minister of works and transport noted that reports
appearing in a cross section of the media alleging that Uganda had abandoned
the SGR project were false and unfounded.
Hon Azuba noted that Uganda was
firmly committed to the project and had already awarded a consultancy and
construction tender for the same. She added that the country was now making
steps towards signing a loan agreement with Exim Bank of China before rolling
out the project.
“Some 90 per cent of cargo comes
to Uganda by road and this has really increased our road maintenance costs
which we know shall come down drastically once the SGR is in place therefore we
cannot afford to abandon the project,” Hon Azuba said as quoted by Daily Nation,
a Kenyan newspaper.
But as it stands, the realization
of either one or both projects works well for country.
Gulu Logistics Hub.
Jointly funded by EU, Government
of Uganda and DFID through TradeMark East Africa to a tune of USD 8.8 million;
works on the over the 22-acres Gulu Logistics facility are scheduled to start
in January 2019 and will be completed by 2021.
On completion, this freight and
logistics facility will have a spacious container yard, container freight
station (CFS), container cleaning and repair station, a vehicle holding
section, an access road connecting the hub to the main road and an administration
complex.
The Gulu Logistics hub will also
have a railway sub-station; directly connected to the Tororo-Gulu metre gauge
line, which will receive and dispatch in and outbound trains in addition to
having sufficient space for loading and unloading wagons.
Important to note, since the end
of the war in northern Uganda and the return of relative stability in South
Sudan and eastern DR Congo, Uganda has been playing a vital role as a
distribution hub for the two areas.
According to a World Bank study –
Uganda Diagnostic Trade Integration Study – importers in South Sudan and DRC
keep supplies in bonded facilities in Kampala before bringing them into either
country as and when needed.
However, with the assurances of
shorter lead times, Uganda has seen transit volumes grow, which has led to the
emergence of a distribution industry especially in Jinja and Kampala.
Nonetheless, the over dependence
on Kampala and Jinja distribution hubs which sit some 334kms and 388kms away
from Gulu respectively and sometimes opting for goods moving from as far as
Mombasa Port directly to northern Uganda, South Sudan or eastern DR Congo,
continues to have its own shortfalls.
Key among these is supply
shortage and scarcity caused by delayed deliveries and accidents occasioned by
fatigued cargo drivers.
Therefore, the construction and
consequent ‘operationalisation’ of the Gulu Logistics Hub is expected to
address these issues that continue to hamper the seamless distribution of cargo
in northern Uganda, South Sudan, and parts of DR Congo.
While addressing delegates at the
September 2018 Global Logistics Convention in Kampala at Sheraton Hotel, Mr
Adrian Green, the Head of Growth and Economic Management at UKAid, described
the logistics sector as the fuel that drives economic growth and committed on
behalf of development partners to continue supporting it.
“Sustainable development is
directly linked to how the logistics sector facilitates trade. Perhaps for too
long, development partners have over looked this and focussed on rural
development and ignored that we need to focus as well on logistics and
transportation. As development partners, we recognise the critical importance
of this sector and would like to help address the key challenges it faces,”
Adrian Green said.
To employ Hundreds and benefit Millions.
At the construction stage, these
projects are expected to employee at-least 5000 people including over 80 per
cent local residents while after completion they will directly and indirectly
benefit millions.
Uganda’s 2014 population census
showed that the northern region had about 7.2 million people. South Sudan has a
population of about 15.6 million people while Eastern DR Congo has more than 5
million people.
According to Ms Damali Ssali, the
infrastructure projects that are being implemented in northern Uganda will
further cement Uganda’s status as a distribution hub owing to its natural
geographical location.
“Uganda’s economic development is
premised on increased exports and job creation. Northern Uganda is a gateway to
Uganda’s export and re-exports to markets in South Sudan, DRC, Central African
Republic and North Western Kenya. Therefore opening up this trade route with
key trade facilitation infrastructure does not only catalyst the creation of
jobs (through exports if products manufactured and/or cultivated in northern
Uganda) but also re-exports.”
DINU makes the projections even more interesting.
The implementation of these
projects gels well with the over 150 million EURs ‘Development Initiative for
Northern Uganda’ (DINU); a government of Uganda integrated programme that is
being implemented in over 33 districts of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and
West Nile for a duration of six years (2017-2023).
Supervised by the Office of the
Prime Minister (OPM), DINU is financed by Government of Uganda (11.954 million
EURs), EU (132.8 million EURs), DFID (2.67 Mio EUR), the Federal Republic of
Germany (1.8 million EURs), UNCDF (0.352 million EURs) and UNICEF (1.056
million EURs).
To the people of northern Uganda,
these developments are a welcome relief that will partly heal decades of suffering
and perceived neglect.
“The future looks bright for us. We
have been told that much of the funding for these projects has already been
secured. We are optimistic that after the dark days, our region is picking up
and many of us will get employed. We can only wait and see,” Carol Adokorach, a
resident of Gulu district said.
Further, expectations are high at
all levels that these projects combined will not only improve the efficiency of
Uganda’s trade but also attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
It remains to be seen how much an
impact these projects will have on communities in this region. However, for
now, northern Uganda can toss to greater times ahead.
Media Centre URL: https://ugandamediacentreblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/05/trade-facilitation-infrastructure-set-to-redefine-northern-uganda-prospects/
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