Energy Resources in East Africa

Abstract

When talking about East Africa, traditionally this refers to the states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with a combined population of over 120 million people in 2014. The three countries have a long history of association under the umbrella body known as the East African Community. In recent times, Rwanda and Burundi also joined the Community. Most of the discussions in this chapter focus on the traditional East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which have a lot in common in terms of their peoples and cultures. The two main dominant ethnic groups are Bantu and the wider Nilotic groups. Both groups are present in all the three states and have, over the years, interacted almost freely across the borders in line with the African traditional commitment to extended family ties including inter-marriage and many years of historical trade ties. After the Second World War, a single colonial power ruled the three states as separate entities but the ties between them were so entrenched that when these countries became independent, they readily formed the East African Community which was expected to eventually evolve into one political federation. Under the Community, several important services were jointly managed and coordinated by the East African Assembly whose headquarters had been carefully planned and built at Arusha, Tanzania, complete with all the necessary secretariat facilities including conference facilities and accommodation for staff in anticipation of an eventual political union. However this expectation was not realized and, instead, the community disintegrated in 1977 but was later reconstituted and expanded to include Rwanda and Burundi as will be discussed later. Such changes in institutional arrangements and internal political instability as well as deliberately designed external factors have adversely affected the development of the energy sector in East Africa. Further, the political leaderships in the developing countries, in general, do not seem to understand the crucial role played by energy in all development processes. Thus, the development of energy resources is low-keyed in these countries and its position as the driving force in national development is taken for granted.