Tanga time

Tanzania and Kenya fought hard to win Uganda’s approval for an oil-export route. Tanzania won

A DECISION has, at last, been made. On 23 April, Kampala said the route to take Ugandan oil to sea would pass through Tanzania. It’s an outcome that will shake up the East African Community, too. There is no avoiding it: Uganda has snubbed Kenya – until now, the dominant member of the bloc and for a long time the seemingly obvious choice to ship the oil. Now, however, Kenya has been left to build its own pipeline from oilfields in its north west, while Tanzania has seduced Uganda with a safer and simpler option – along with promises to take a share in Uganda’s proposed refinery project. The final decision “is a huge victory for Tanzania, both economically and politically”, says Emma Gordon,