EAST AFRICAN RAILWAYS

Britain's former colonies differ from those of other European countries in two respects; they were given the common law tradition, and the colonial power built railways.The former is still going strong (though in some countries it is open to corruption and other abuse); but the latter are looking a bit creaky. Since independence, the colonies have been poor at maintaining or investing in infrastructure. The East African railways, built at the end of the nineteenth century mainly with imported Indian labour, are no exception.

So this week's announcement that a new railway line is to be built from Mombasa to Nairobi in Kenya is both welcome and timely. Many African countries are landlocked, and getting exports to a port and imports (mainly of fuel) into the country are both very difficult. Eventually the line will go on from Nairobi to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Inter-governmental agreements and projects have a dismal history in Africa. However, this one looks much more promising, since it will be built and 90% (though this will probably end up being closer to 100%) financed by the Chinese. During the Mao era, they built the Tanzam line between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Lusaka in Zambia, which still works (sort of), so they have form in the region. And they are much better at this sort of thing than they were 30-40 years ago. The first stage is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

All in all, some welcome news for the region.

Walter Blotscher