The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
For decades, Africa’s infrastructure ambitions have often stalled between conception and delivery. That execution gap is now firmly in focus as policymakers, financiers and industry leaders seek to translate integration into bankable, job-creating outcomes. It is against this backdrop that the inaugural Africa We Build Summit, set for April 23–24 in Nairobi under the theme ‘Infrastructure as the Engine of Industrialisation’, will convene key decision-makers, including Kenya’s President Dr. William Ruto and Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Isaac Khisa spoke to Fola Fagbule, deputy director and head of financial advisory at the Africa Finance Corporation, on how the summit is designed to unlock investment at scale. Here are the excerpts.
QUESTION: To begin with, how would you assess the current state of integrated transport, energy, and industrial systems within the East African Community, and how does this compare with other regional blocs across the African continent?
ANSWER: The East African Community is the most integrated region on the continent. Intra-regional trade stands at around 18%—higher than any other African bloc—supported by a customs union since 2005 and a common market since 2010.
It also has the most mature cross-border infrastructure frameworks. The Northern and Central Corridors are long-standing, institutionalised systems, supported by corridor authorities and One-Stop Border Posts. In energy, the Eastern Africa Power Pool spans 13 countries and around 430 million people, with an installed capacity of roughly 98 GW and peak demand of 63 GW, growing at 6.6% annually.
Uganda stands out within this system as a structural power surplus country, with about 2 GW of installed capacity against peak demand of under 1 GW.
Yet there is still room for improvement within EAC in industrial deepening. Fertiliser, petrochemical, and processing capacity remain underdeveloped relative to the available resource base. But compared to SADC, ECOWAS, and ECCAS, the EAC is where infrastructure investment is most directly translating into integrated economic activity.
At a strategic level, what gap is The Africa We Build Summit 2026 designed to address in advancing infrastructure-led growth and industrialisation across East Africa?
The Africa We Build Summit 2026 is focused on closing the gap between integration and execution. The EAC has strong institutional and corridor frameworks, but many priority projects still stall between concept and delivery. That execution gap is central.
There is also a systems gap—projects are still often developed in isolation—and a capital deployment gap, where available capital is not matched to well-prepared, scalable opportunities.
The Summit is designed to align project preparation and policy around bankable, system-level investments, and to commence the process of mobilising capital for transformational projects with regional economic development impact.
How does the Summit position the East African Community as a more integrated and attractive destination for global investment?
It positions the EAC as a unified investment ecosystem. The region is already integrated institutionally—through the customs union, common market, and power pool—so investors are not underwriting integration risk. Corridor development combines infrastructure and trade facilitation and is anchored by regional authorities.
What is increasingly distinctive in the best-performing markets globally is that infrastructure is structured as systems—corridors, power pools, and industrial platforms—rather than standalone assets. With a market of over 300 million people, EAC has the scale needed for globally competitive investments, if policy and capital are aligned. This is the goal of the Africa We Build Summit.
From your perspective, what is Uganda’s strategic role within the East African Community, and how critical is it to the region’s integration agenda?
Uganda is the central node in the EAC system. It borders five key markets—Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, and DRC—and sits at the core of the Northern Corridor, making it the primary inland gateway for regional trade.
Its structural advantages are clear. It is a power surplus country, with around 2 GW installed capacity against peak demand under 1 GW, and is already interconnected with Kenya and Rwanda, with further links planned. It is also a surplus producer of staple crops and has among the lowest road freight costs in Africa at about $0.08 per tonne-kilometre.
At the same time, border frictions remain a constraint. Crossings such as Rusumo (connecting Rwanda and Tanzania ) and Taveta (connecting Kenya and Tanzania) still create delays—reducing crossing times by 25% could cut total shipment times by 13–18%.
Uganda’s combination of geographic centrality and surplus capacity in power and food makes it indispensable to regional integration.
What tangible benefits should Uganda expect to derive from the Summit, particularly in terms of infrastructure investment, trade, and industrial growth?
The immediate benefit is capital deployment into its infrastructure pipeline. Priority areas include the Naivasha–Malaba–Kampala railway extension, transmission infrastructure to monetise Uganda’s power surplus, and logistics assets such as dry ports and storage.
It also strengthens Uganda’s visibility as the inland hub of the EAC trade system—serving South Sudan, eastern DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The deeper benefit is industrial: aligning Uganda’s structural surpluses—power, agriculture, and oil—with capital and partners to build processing capacity and capture value domestically.
You’ve emphasised a shift from standalone projects to integrated corridors and ecosystems. What fundamentally changes with this approach for economies like Uganda?
Africa has seen the limits of standalone projects—power plants without industrial demand, railways without freight, or refineries without supply chains. An ecosystem approach aligns infrastructure with economic activity.
That means energy developed alongside transmission and industrial demand; corridors linked to logistics hubs and industrial parks; and resource extraction tied to processing.
For Uganda, this turns its power surplus into a bankable industrial input, positions the Northern Corridor as a value-add platform, and supports a shift from raw agricultural exports to storage and processing.
The Northern Corridor remains central to regional trade. What investments are needed to unlock its full potential in connecting Mombasa to Uganda and beyond?
The corridor already has a strong backbone—highways, SGR segments, pipelines, inland depots, and One-Stop Border Posts.
But there is still much work to be done. Rail connectivity is the top priority—extending the SGR to Kampala. There is also a need for refining capacity and fuel storage, particularly given East Africa’s exposure to imported refined products.
Food storage—grain silos, cold chains, aggregation centres—is another key gap, alongside further border upgrades and digital trade facilitation.
Finally, industrial hubs along the corridor, supported by reliable power, are needed to turn it into a value-adding economic system.
How do integrated transport, energy, and industrial systems translate into stronger regional value chains and real economic opportunities for countries like Uganda?
They reduce costs, increase scale, and enable industry. For Uganda, this supports deeper agricultural value chains—particularly in maize, coffee, and dairy—leveraging its transport cost advantage. It enables energy-intensive industries such as steel and mineral processing and supports oil-based value chains through refining and downstream products. It also strengthens Uganda’s role as a regional logistics hub, with Kampala serving multiple neighbouring markets.
Financing cross-border infrastructure remains complex. What innovative models is your organisation deploying to mobilise capital at scale?
As set out in the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2026, the issue is not capital availability but deployment. Africa Finance Corporation addresses this through project origination to bring investments to bankability, blended finance structures combining concessional and commercial capital, and platform-based investments that aggregate multiple projects.
This is complemented by credit enhancement tools, local currency mobilisation to attract pension and insurance capital, financial advisory and project development services, and co-investment structures. The shift is from isolated transactions to scalable investment platforms.
What role does your institution play in de-risking investments and crowding in private sector participation in Africa’s infrastructure space? Any examples of infrastructure that AFC has supported in the past in the EAC trading bloc?
AFC combines capital with structuring expertise. In the EAC, this includes projects such as the oil transportation facilities across Lake Victoria in Uganda, investments in Kenya’s electricity and cement sector, financing support for Kenyan banks, as well as development of special economic zones, and an expansion of its shareholder base to include EAC countries.
In Kenya alone, AFC has invested over US$1.35bn, including US$375 million in direct project investments and further US$1 billion through unfunded trade finance lines that support commercial and industrial activity. We have also invested heavily in the rest of the other EAC countries. And, the broader impact is catalytic. AFC’s involvement reduces risk and enables additional capital to participate across the capital stack. AFC is now establishing a regional office based in Nairobi, which will expand its capacity to originate and execute projects in the region.
How important are partnerships between governments, development finance institutions, and private investors in accelerating delivery of these large-scale projects?
They are essential. Governments provide policy certainty and regulatory frameworks; development finance institutions bring concessional capital and technical expertise; and private investors bring scale and commercial discipline. Institutions like AFC act as originators and structurers, aligning these roles into bankable transactions.
Looking ahead, how can integrated power systems, including the Eastern Africa Power Pool and increased mineral value addition position East Africa, and Uganda in particular, for long-term industrial growth and competitiveness?
The Eastern Africa Power Pool is central to the region’s industrial future. It spans 13 countries and is expanding rapidly, with cross-border transmission capacity expected to more than triple by 2030.
Uganda’s surplus capacity and central location position it as a potential regional power-trading hub. This is critical for mineral value addition, which requires reliable, large-scale electricity.
The binding constraint is transmission. Expanding transmission—particularly through private capital—is essential to unlocking both power trade and industrial growth. The Gridworks-backed Amari transmission project in Uganda, the first privately financed independent transmission project in sub-Saharan Africa, provides a replicable model.
What are AFC’s strategic plans for financing integrated infrastructure development within the East African Community, particularly in Uganda?
The strategy is a shift to a “system-of-systems” approach. That means financing integrated platforms linking power, transport, and industry, rather than standalone assets. Transmission and energy storage is a particular focus, given that it is the binding constraint across power systems. In Uganda, this includes supporting private-led transmission models and broader corridor development, enabling surplus capacity to translate into industrial growth.
