President Yoweri Museveni has reiterated that oil is not a curse but rather a resource that will solve Africa’s infrastructure challenges. The President who is in Equatorial Guinea for a four -day state visit hailed the oil producing country for developing its transport and physical infrastructure.
“Some people say oil is a curse but in Equatorial Guinea it is a blessing. I congratulate Equatorial Guinea for using it’s oil and gas very well. When I was last here for the AU Summit, I noticed gaps between the airport and the city centre. The gaps have now been filled with infrastructure,” Museveni said.
The West African country has transformed itself having discovered its oil deposits in 1985. Equatorial Guinea currently produces 300,000 barrels of oil per day.
While on his visit, Museveni and his counterpart, President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea will discuss how to support each other in the area of oil development and strategic security.
Museveni emphasized the oneness of African people and the need for Africa to utilise its oneness and connectivity for the continent’s strength and prosperity.
“We must solve the problem of the railway from the Indian Ocean to the centre of the continent. We can have railway from Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Douala to the centre,” said Museveni at a dinner hosted in his honour at the Presidential Palace in Malabo.
He commeded Equatorial Guinea for undertaking development of their place saying Malabo city is refurbished with well planned infrastructure and buildings.
In April this year, President Obiang visited Uganda and also attended the Oil and Gas conference to share Equatorial Guinea’s success story in regard to oil production. He tipped government of Uganda to take deliberate measures to see that citizens are involved in the oil activities as well as taking caution against players with ill motives.
Uganda looks to 2020 for its first commercial oil production with daily capacity of up to 30,000 barrels for a period of 25 years. A total investment of USD 15 billion is expected to be invested in the next 3 years.
