East African transport : studies and projects

UNITED NATIONS

ECONO'M'IC AND

SOCIAL COUNCIL

ECONOMIC COI'li'lISSION FOR AFRICA

First Meeting of the Interim Economic Committe of the "';conomic Community of Eastern Africa Lusaka, 30 October - 7 November 1967

EAsr AFRICAlJ TfuUI'SPORT, srUDIES A1ID PROJ<;CTS

Distr.

LIIUTED

JO/CN.14/EA/EC/5 25 September 1967 Original, ~NGLISH

DOCUMENTS OFFICE

FllJECOPY

NO 1'0 HE TAKEN OUT . . '

The work of the Economic Cornnris s.i on for Jurica in the transport field has been in progress for some years. A conference on West African Transport, with particular emphasis on roads, was held in Monrovia in

Ootober 1961, and its East African counterpart, The East African

Transport Conference, met in Addis Ababa from 29 October to 9 November 1962. Many recommendations were made at this latter Conference for transport studies and investigations, and mar~ of these have been implemented, some by ECA, some by the international leading agencies;

and some by the individual oountries themselves, Transport Studies

There are at present under "'a;J in East Africa tlIO comprehensive transport studies \Thich should have a significant influence. on future transport development in the sub-region, One cf these is the ~ast

Africa Transport Study being conducted jointly by the Economist

Intelligence Unit and Freeman, Fox, tiilbur Smith and Associates under the sponsorship of the United Nations Development Progr&ume, with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development as Executing Agency. The other is the !liddle Africa Regional Transportation Study beillb' conducted by the Stanfora: Research Institute under the sponsor- ship of U.S.A.I.D.

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The East Afrioa Transport Study is a joint study of Kenya,

'Tanzania and Uganda, and Hill make an eva.l.uat i.on of the extent to 'lhich the existing transport system met::: ~8 the cur-r-ent, demand. for transport in the three countries, and of ext"nsi:ms and rnodi.fLc a'ti on s required to meet de:nand over the 191' 5 ..-30 pe"'ieC • The an.xIysi s uiLl. include the relevant aspects of the economies of neighboring countries trading through, or likely to trade through the trro o B{,Ldt tifrican

countrie8. Bstimated cost of the study is

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^$860,000 and, according to preliminary estimates, the field work contemplated will take one year,

The Middle Africa Re«,ional 'Pz-anspor-t at.Lon Study crill survey trans- portation requirements of the so-called Middle Africa Region, comprised of the Copperbelt Area in the Dpmocratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Tanzania, Mala'1i, Kenya, Ug and a , rr"anda, Burundi and Botswana. THO principal reports Hill r-esuLt f,.. om the study: the first \Jill specify the immediate impl'ove,nents and measures r-equi r-ed for the Copperbelt Area; the second will identify the regional transport requirements of the countries in the :Vlicid.le Africa Region. The lDove;;.ont of f~oods

as such mOV8llients relate to the _le~ionls transport requiranlents.

Another study proposed earlier by ~CA for the ~ast African sub- rebion is a study of the area extendinb approxlmately 300 kilometers on either side of a line between Juba and Albertville, in the region of the African Great Lakes. This "ill be an integrated market study, taking into full account all transport implioations. An ~CA Regional Transport Adviser visited the couniri e s concerr.ed 1dth respect to this study during February and March ef

1967,

and a great deal of interest was indicated by the goverr~ents. Because the East Africa Trans- portation Study 1lill deal to sorre extent viith some of ,he problems to

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be investigated by the Great Lakes Study, further progress on the latter s tudy Hill be delayed until the findinbs of these two studies are available.

Another _stu~r of interest to the _~ast African Sub-region is the just compLet.e d l'last Africa" Tran31'Jrt Development StudY of Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. This study '''Ie; provided tv BCA by the Italian Foreign Ministry under the Ellatoral Technical Assistance Progr~nme,

and is one of a series of African transport studies provided by the Belgian, French, Ge rman and Italian Governments. The s tudy is an attempt to indicate the broad outlines of a transportation develop- ment plan for the three countries, with a view to exploiting economic potential to the maximum. iroposals are illade for long-distance links to be constructed or improved through the year 1980, and such recent

innovations as hov8Tcraft are aonsidered.

A final item which should ~e mentioned in connection with trans- port development in the Sast African Sub-region is the "Treaty for East African Co-operation" signed at Kampala on 6 June 1967 and comillb into force on 1 December 1967" Anong' other aims of the East African Community established thereby is "the coordination of transport planning", and under' the Treaty a Raa Lways Corporation, a Harbours Corporation and an AirHays Corporation (but not a Roads or Highways Corporation) are e st abl ished ; The Treaty affects only Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda at present.

In addition to the abovo mentioned comprehensive BtudieB of EaBt African TranBport, all of whdch are concerned \lith the development of a o~ordinated sub-regional network from the over-all viewpoint, a considerable number of studieB of individual tr~lsport projectB in the sub-region are either in prOereBs or have been completed during recent years. Some of theBe latter studies are concerned only with the national aspectB of transportation, but many of them have inter- national and sub-regional implicationB, alBO. Again, BOrne of theBe have been carried out by the EGA Member States themBelveB, and some

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have been oarried out under the auspioes of the several international leading agencies and bilateral aid prograrames~

Of th~ studl8s conce~ning indevidual transport projects in ~ast

Africa, perhaps the mos: pubI L...i.^r3e^ri are t.hc several studies made of the proposed 'Panz ani a .. Zambia R".i..tray connect i.ng the port of Dar-es- Salaam with the Copperbelt area, Studies have also been made for the improvement of various seotions of the Great North Road, which runs from Lusaka in ~ambia north-eaet to Iringa and from there branches north to Nairobi and east to Dar-8s-Salaam, and so in effect parallels to some extent the proposed 'I'ar.z an.i a - Zambia Raihra,y. Also, a full- scale survey has been completeo. ~n a new rail link which would conneot Malawi with the port of Naoala in Mozambique.

The most numerous studies of individual transport projects have of oourse been those of proposed road projects. Typical of these is a study which has been made, with the assistance of the International Bank for Reoonstruction and Development, of a new and improved road between Bujumbura and Kigoma, including several feeder roads which Hould open up the territory to "he East. Also under discussion is the possible development of roads across the border between north-Hest Tanzania and m,anda. In fact, Etudies of proposed road proJects have

been made in each of the countri3s of the sub-region, and in many instances these are part of the day-to-day planning activities of the individual countries,

Studies have also been [Jade of the other modes of transport in the sub-region. The East African Raih,ay and Harbours organization of oourse oarries on continuing studies of its operations, and of proposed additions thereto. Work has been started on a full-scale investigation into the "reater use of Lake r,iilaHi and the Upper Shire River as a transportation medi.um , A proposed pipeline from Mombasa to Lake Viotoria will be studied in oonnection Hith the Midd.le Africa Re5ional Transportation Study noted above. All of these studies are efforts whioh Hill eventuqlly r~sult in a fully ooordinated sub-regional

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transport ne t.vo r-k for East Africa, and their over-all signifioance must not be overlooked,

From the foregoing it is o')'.-ious that a great many transport studies have be en cOlnpleted in:£ast Africa during recent years, and that many additional l,tudiec; arc 'lOH in progress. It has been suggested on ocoasion that there have been ~oo many transport studies, and too few implemented proje0ts. The fact is, however, that such studies are not only desirable, but neoessary, in view of the existing shortage of, and great demand for, c a.p.it a.L in all- of the several sectors of the egonomy. To be oonsidered for fin2llcing, transport projeots must be well conceived, and to be welloonceived, they must be studied before- hand.

Transpurt Projects

In any event, along Hi th t:,8 numerous transport studies in East Africa during recent years, there has been illuch solid accomplishment with respect to implemented projects, also. although financing for the proposed Tanzania - Zarnb i.a haile-ray has not yet been ar-r-anged , it appears reasonably certain that the project will be constructed, and Zambia has allocated an initial amo~nt of 5 million pounds tOHard the project in its current Developmellt Plan for the period 1966-1970.

Also, construction .las started Le.e-t spring on the first cross-country

pipeline in .c;ast Africa, a 1,000-'nile lone; line bentreon Dar-es-Salaam and Ndola, scheduled for cO"1]018t10," in late 1968 at a total cost of 16 million pounds. The line will carry 2,3 million bbl. of gasoline and kerosene per year Hhen 00mple+ed, and 5 million bbl. annually by

A $1.6 million loan from U,S.A.I.D. will help Tanzania improve a section of a major road link bet ue eri Zambia and the port of Dar-es- Salaam. The loan 1fill finance an engineering study, scheduled for completion by March 1968, of the Tanzanian segment of the Great North Road. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development reoently ooncluded negotiations with the Government of Zambia for a

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loan to assist in surfacing the Great North Road in Zambia be tu ee n Kapiri M' poshi and Serenje, and construction is under ^>ley. The Great East Road running from Lusaka to For-t Jameson and on into I'la-lawi is beillb reconstructed and black-topped throughout its length, and a new bridge is under consideration at the one maJor river crossing on the 340 miles bet~reen Lusaka and Fort .Jame son ,

The African Deve Lopmerrt Bank has "ranted a US C2,3 million loan t~ the Goverrunent of Kenya to help finance the reconstruction and bituminiza- tion of two road links which form part of the major hibhway connecting the three East African capitals of Dar-es-Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala.

An additional loan of $3.6 million has beun authorized by U.S.A.I.D.

for this project, and the balance of the project costs will be provided by the Government of Kenya. The International Development Association has approved a credit of $5,3 million to assist in financing the

construction of 269 miles of roads to serve the transportation needs of a sugar cane grmring area and cane processing factories in south- western Kenya near Lake Victoria, and the ell6ineering of a further 240 miles. The Nairobi - Mombasa road in Kenya is being improved, and a road from Nairobi to Adciis Ababa ~s under construction. Uo.r-k is 'oell along in Kenya, also, on a series of "tea" roads estimated to cost in excess of 1.5 millicn pounds.

In Malawi, construction vo rk on the first sta.;e of the $14 million Zomba - Zambian border highway was sohedWBd to begin in September of this year under a loan agreement with the International Development Association. Hork on the Blantyre - Zomba road was to have been

completed in AUbust. iiith the assistance of the ,lest German Government, Uganda has been working since 1964 on the reconstruction of the main road be twe en Kampala and Mbarara in hestern Uganda. Surveying was scheduled to start in September 1966 on a road from Kigali to the Tanzanian port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, with the aim of oompleting a trade route to the Tanzanian seaboard for fu,anda. Development funds have been approved by the European iliconomic Community Commission for teohnical assistanoe to fu,anda for additional road surveys.

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The Export-Import Bank n a s iSra'lted Zambia a loan of $5 million to help finanoe the purchase of locomotives to haul copper for shipment from Lobi to and to b1':,ng coal frc:;JJouth8rn ;o;'.mbia to the Copperbelt • A meeting was held in Kinshasa ~uring December

1966

to discuss the nationalization of the !1.eet on L ek, Tat1banyika, and attempt s are

being ma.de by the four countries coice r-ned ., Congo (Kinsha.sa), Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania - to work out a plan for the international opera- tion of shipping on the Lake , T,re new Large rail ferrie s have been oommissioned for service on Lake Viotoria and will first run between Kiswnu (Kenya) and Mwanza (Tanzani'l), thus providing in effect a through north-south rail route f'r-on Tabora in Tanzania all the Wa;{ to Pakwach in north-western Uganda

It might be noted at this poin: that the different gauges of the various African railroads pose e. real problem with respect to the continuing development of raii>H'Y transport in Africa, including East Africa. The Bast African Railways Slfstem, for example, uses a one- meter

(39.37")

gauge, while it is proposed that the new Tanzania -

Zambia Railroad be built to

3'6"

gauge, It is desirable, of course, that the t"o be connected, but ~!le s sti.m a't ed cost of .naki ng the necessary changes in the East Af~ic~ system is $28 million. There is an obvious need for standardization, not only of gauge, but also of the different braking and coupling systems used by the existing railwa;{s, and a study of these mat t.o.r-s has been completed for ECA by a railway consultant under Federa:t 'Jerman Government bilateral aid.

The above list of East Afric,cn transport projects under way or completed in recent ye aa-s i:., not intended to be a comprehensive list, and in fact a comprehensive list is not available, particularly of the many completed --oad projects. It is clear, however, that transport development in East Africa goes fae beyond the study st~e, and that transport pr-oje cts are being implemented every day. Transport planning on the national level in Bast Africa, as in the rest of Africa, probably suffers from a lack of qualified African manpower, and such sub-regional transport planning as ha.s been "ncouraged by J<;CA and others has of

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neoessity been on a rather limited scale. It apl,ears, then, that there is a definite need for an East Afrioan transport committee or group, composed of representatives of the several ~ast African oountries and operating on a sub-regional basis, with the primary purpose of co- ordinating the multitude of transport studies and transport projects now in evidence and contemplated for the future. A proposal for the formation and composition of such an Eastern African Transport and Communications Committeo is contained in dOCument E/CN.14/EA/EC/4.

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