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Presidents Yoweri Museveni and John Pombe Magufuli have signed a pact expressing their intent to go ahead with the construction of a oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania.
The two leaders on Sunday signed a communique agreeing to start construction of the East African Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP) project that is 1,400km from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania.
“The issues of the Hoima-Tanga pipeline are agreed and resolved” the communique signed by the two leaders said. (see full communique bottom)
The two countries have been negotiating how to proceed with the EACOP project after the East African nations agreed in April last year to the pipeline going through Tanzania and not Kenya as had been earlier planned.
The communique signed in Dar es Salaam adds that a date for the two presidents to lay a foundation stone at either Hoima or Tanga will be arranged as soon as possible.
“This project shows that East Africa can do things if it wants. It is a realisation of economic and social development of our countries,” Museveni said after the signing.
Museveni went on to confirm that “we chose Tanzania because of its relative stability. We agreed to this pipeline as a way of getting to other markets.”
He said that Tanzania’s favourable land system and the fact that Tanga Port is protected from ocean waves influenced Uganda’s choice.
The two president asked the the ministers responsible for energy in Uganda and Tanzania to sign the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) this Friday May 27 in Kampala.
Construction cost estimates are set at $3.5 billion and the pipeline will transport 200,000 drums of oil per day. Of the 1,443km pipeline, 1,115 of it will pass through Tanzania.
Kenya will now construct a crude oil pipeline from Lokichar to Lamu Port on her own.
Museveni has been in Dar es Salaam since Saturday, where Magufuli handed over to him the chairmanship of the East African Community (EAC).
RELATED STORY
Why Museveni chose Tanzania for oil pipeline https://t.co/iFgTlledkB via @TheCitizenTZ
— The Citizen Tanzania (@TheCitizenTZ) May 22, 2017
FULL text of the #NCIP 13th summit communique on #Oil #Tourism #Security #SGR #Pipeline https://t.co/5AC65aKIjH pic.twitter.com/dDzN9tbkTq
— The Independent (@UGIndependent) April 24, 2016
COMMUNIQUE MAY 21, 2017
COMMUNIQUE: Oil pipeline construction Uganda and Tanzania by The Independent Magazine on Scribd
