China Entrenches Interest in Africa, Now in Uganda

By Williams Ekanem

China,  a growing business ally to many African countries continue to dig in into the treasure base of the continent as it now  assist Uganda in the development of its infrastructure and oil industry, Sun Heping, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda has said. "The Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of infrastructure in Africa, Uganda in particular, and made it one of the key areas of cooperation in the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum," Mr. Sun told a Chinese news agency recently. Apparently, the U.S. was caught off guard during the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen when several African countries voted with China and not the U.S.

 A top U.S. administration stated recently that the U.S must persuade African nations that their interests are better served by aligning with them. But that does not seem to perturb China the Chinese and Ugandan governments have been in close touch on the proposed Kampala-Entebbe highway project, the first in the country, which is expected to cost about $350 million. "The project is currently in preparations stage and will get underway in 2011 if everything keeps at the current pace," he said. The highway funded by preferential loan from China is to provide an alternative route linking the country's capital and its international airport at Entebbe, 40 kilometers south of Kampala.

China is also committed to working with Uganda in its nascent oil industry as China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is seeking to partner with Total and Tullow to build an oil refinery in the western part of the country. Besides Uganda, China has serious business ties with Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana and a host of other African countries. President Museveni, is known to be in favor of building the country's own oil industry with a complete chain of finished oil products. "China aims to assist Uganda build its own oil industry through participation in the production of oil products and assisting the country to attain its Millennium Development Goals before 2015 the Unites Nations' target years," said  Heping.

Uganda hit oil in the western part of the country in the Albertine Graben region in 2006. So far, Tullow, has discovered about one billion barrels of crude oil in the area. Tullow estimates that Uganda has a further potential of 1.2 billion barrels more in the Albertine basin which also borders the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials also see increased political stability in Africa as good for long-term U.S. interests — a way to stem the growth of terrorism in east Africa and counterbalance China's growing presence on the continent. A good strategy of counterbalancing China’s growing reception in Africa, MAC.TV gathered, is for President Barack Obama to speak to African leaders with a unique level of candor, reflecting his personal connection to Africa and that his father and other family members have been affected by the corruption that plagues many countries there.