Africabeat

Violence in Kenya Causing Regional Fuel Crisis

The post-election violence in Kenya is having devastating effects throughout East Africa as fuel shipments from Mombasa, the region's largest port, ground to a halt. 

Enter the Ugandan army.

Joseph Karoki writes that Ugandan troops have entered Nyanza Province in Western Kenya to help secure safe passage of oil trucks bound for Kampala:

Last night I recieved news that there were reports of Ugandan militia in or around Nyanza Province and Western Province. I waited utill I got confirmation from the ground. After several late night phone calls, I did confirm that Ugandan Forces were indeed within Kenyan borders. Just within the last hour Ugandan Army Spokesman, Major Felix Kulayigye, confirmed the deployment of the troops on Tuesday, saying “it is to forestall possible spill over of violence in Kenya”...

...So if we do have Ugandan militia in Nyanza province, many of you might ask why? Well, here is a simple answer. Uganda is a landlocked country that relies heavily on the political stability of Kenya for imports and exports through the Mombasa Port on the Indian Ocean and is dependent on the the safe passage of goods through Kenya.The political instability has had devastating effects on Uganda’s economy.  Uganda, fuel prices have risen from USh2,400 (Sh100) to USh5,000 (Sh225). Most oil importing companies have reported that they have not replenished their stocks after their reservoirs dried up. So there is motive as to why Uganda would get involved.

His Kenyan readers are not too happy.

The Monitor newspaper says Uganda was woefully unprepared:

[Energy Minister Daudi Migereko] had a hard time explaining to the media how the country could suffer crippling scarcities almost immediately after the Kenyan turmoil began, and why the nation's reserves could not even last days.

Both the Monitor and New Vision report price gouging and long lines at the few stations in Kampala that haven't run out of petrol.  The Ugandans are trying to redirect shipments through Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), but are facing major logistical problems, i.e., ships to carry fuel across Lake Victoria.  Moreover, because of the higher transport costs associated with that route, importing via Dar would not normalize prices.

Continuing west, government officials say Rwanda, which (surprise surprise) still has several days of reserves, may be facing its own crisis unless it can start importing fuel again.

I can't imagine what the situation must be like in Eastern Congo.

There's been a lot of coverage of Western pressure on Kibaki (well, minus the Americans of course, who found in him a staunch "War on Terror" ally).  But I imagine that today, it's Museveni and Kagame who are really giving him hell.

Batwa People of Eastern Congo

The Batwa people were traditionally hunter-gatherers.  In Eastern Congo, they lived off what the forest provided, until prolonged warfare and the creation of national parks ended their way of life.  Neglected by the government, shunned by other ethnic groups, the Batwa live on the margins of Congolese society.  They have no knowledge of agriculture or animal husbandry.  They have never participated in a cash economy.  They live in temporary villages in constant fear of being driven out by real estate developers or the government.  They build their houses out of sticks and leaves and die of things like too much rain.  There are about 3,000 living in the area around Goma.  They want dignity, they want a way to live as others live, but how?  No one can simply give that to them.

In August, I met an American girl in Kigali with a friend named Morgan, a student at the Université de Goma.  On a whim, I went to eastern Congo, ostensibly to climb a volcano and see some gorillas, all  because Morgan knew a guy who knew a guy who could get me a good rate. Morgan also happened to be one of the most extraordinary individuals I've ever met--a law student, an eldest son, the founder of his own NGO, and a good guy to have around the next time Mt. Nyiragongo erupts--and so on a second whim, I made a promise I intend to keep to Morgan and 3,000+ people. Needless to say, I never did get to see the gorillas. 

In a series of posts, learn about the Batwa, the support Morgan's NGO needs to help them, and how I hope to mobilize that support while avoiding all those pitfalls of aid I love to critique, but to which I can offer no easy solutions.

Dubai Invests in Rwanda

Last week, Dubai World, Dubai's investment holding company, announced it will invest $230 million in Rwanda's tourism industry. Dubai World plans to build a five-star tented park at the base of the country's famed gorilla preserve at Volcanoes National Park, an airstrip and hotel at Akagera Park, and a tea estate adjacent to a proposed four-star hotel at Nyungwe forest. 

The Rwanda Investments and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA) is aggressively courting ICT and tourism investments as part Vision 2020, an ambitious plan to transform Rwanda into a middle-income country by the year 2020. 

When I was in Kigali last summer, I spoke to some officers at RIEPA about Vision 2020, and they showed me these really beautiful sketches of luxury cabins, best described as castles of glass, perched over a lake.  I believe they had commissioned an American architecture firm to do the drawings.  "All we need is an investor," they said.  It was one of the many moments during my three weeks in Rwanda where I thought, "Damn, I can't help but admire the sheer audacity of this government's dreams."

Looks like audacity is paying off.

Here's some info on the Dubai World investment in French and English.

See also: Notes on Rwanda, Democracy & Authoritarianism

Paris Hilton Goes to Rwanda

Yet Another Celeb Seeks Africa Cred

Paris Hilton is off to Rwanda next month to show the world that even drunk-driving billionaire heiresses can have a heart.

Africa has become an obligatory destination for celebrities--apparently even those on the B-list--to turn over a new leaf in their careers or otherwise prove they are more than just a pretty face.

Rwanda seems a logical choice; both Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor made appearances there this summer. 

After showing us a different side of rural America, Paris intends to extend the favor to Rwandans. 

But I mean, who wouldn't want Paris as their spokesperson?

Is Kenya following in Rwanda's footsteps?

Rwanda has a plan called Vision 2020 which aims to transform Rwanda into a middle-income country by 2020.  The Kenyan government is holding public forums on Vision 2030, a proposed plan announced last fall to transform Kenya into a middle-income country by 2030.

The beginnings of a new fad?  Or do many African countries have similar "Asian tiger," middle-income ambitions?

Notes on Rwanda, Democracy & Authoritarianism

A few weeks ago, I wrote a very optimistic post about Rwanda for the Guardian's Comment is Free.  A very many people accused me of being a propagandist mouthpiece for Kagame, although I wasn’t sure how much weight to give certain comments once the conversation descended into a debate about whether there was ever a genocide in Rwanda.

But then I received an email I could not ignore.  It was written by an aid worker who has been living in Rwanda for 3 years and who undoubtedly has a much deeper understanding of the country than I possibly can.  She found my depiction of the situation there "appalling."

hope

A reader recently asked for some hope.  Shot by my friend Robbie, with my camera. One possible alternative to this.

The posh lives of foreign aid workers in Africa

Please don't think me on a rampage against aid (OK, maybe I am), but I'd like to share with you a discussion going on at Global Voices in response to a blog entry I translated by a Rwanda-based Swiss blogger, Civiliste Guillaume.

In the original post, Civiliste Guillaume shares the his friends' view on the foreign aid community (Fr):

In Rwanda, we have some friends who work in NGOs or at the United Nations. They live more or less like kings, removed from the population, they spend most of the day at the office…But how can they hope to understand the reality that the people you want to help when they themselves live in this way?!? It’s simply impossible. When we talk with them we clearly see the extent to which they have problems understanding the people they are supposed to help. It’s not by any ill will on their parts, its because they are part of an organization that does not let them. I’m not saying that we understand everything–far from it–but for sure living everyday with children who are considered less than nothing, we feel, rather than understand, a number of things about their “problems” but also about their “dreams, projects and desires” for the future.