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http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/EA-infrastructure-race--Trio-opening-up-big-lead/-/434750/2405940/-/r9ko3j/-/index.html

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EA infrastructure race: Trio opening up big lead

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By Charles Onyango-Obbo

Posted  Saturday, August 2  2014 at  11:40

In Summary

• You can fit the departure lounges at Uganda's Entebbe, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, and Rwanda's Kanombe in Kigali, into JKIA's Terminal 1A and still have space to spare.
• The airport in Kigali is undergoing a feverish remake, and it is probably the only airport on the continent that has smart e-gates; with your biometric ID and fingerprint, you are through.
• Ethiopia is becoming China's regional industrial hub.
• Unlike Rwanda or Ethiopia, Kenya has noisy and disruptive politics and is hobbled by patronage.

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The new Terminal 1A at Kenya's main international airport, JKIA, started operating full commercial flights at the end of July. Not surprisingly, Kenya Airways and its Sky Team partners have cornered the cream for themselves, as they are the only ones that will be operating there.

It is not something to sneer at. You can fit the departure lounges at Uganda's Entebbe, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, and Rwanda's Kanombe in Kigali, into Terminal 1A and still have space to spare. The terminal will be fully complete in March 2015.

The thing about the new terminal is that it tells a different and bigger story – there is a serious infrastructure race going on in the wider East Africa.

For now three countries are more than a lap ahead of the rest — Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. Uganda and Burundi stumbled coming off the starting blocks and haven't steadied themselves yet. Tanzania seems caught between looking over its shoulders at the back markers, and glancing ahead to size up the lead pack.

It is interesting to watch the leaders. Rwanda, with nearly 12 million people, is small in both population and size compared with Kenya with its 42 million. It is a speck relative to Ethiopia with more than 90 million. Its strategy seems to be to overcome the disadvantage by leading in speed of execution, pushing first mover advantage in technology, and edging the competition in policy.

The airport in Kigali is undergoing a feverish remake, and it is probably the only airport on the continent that has smart e-gates; with your biometric ID and fingerprint, you are through. It also has one of the continent's most liberal visa policies for Africans, an area where immigrant-wary and xenophobic rivals won't match it for a while.

It has harvested a huge jump in African traffic. Recently, I took a ride from upcountry with RwandAir's chief John Mirege. Like true sons of Mother Africa, we stopped at a famous place to eat roast maize.

Over mouthfuls, he told me business was looking so good, they too are jumping into the Boeing Dreamliner market like Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airways have already done. Uganda Air, meanwhile, has gone to ground.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, does scale and efficient delivery. It is building dams and railways at levels no other African country can equal and bringing them to completion far more cheaply than Kenya or Uganda.

It is a Chinese-style model, and the Chinese are loving it. Ethiopia is thus becoming China's regional industrial hub.

Unlike Rwanda or Ethiopia, Kenya has noisy and disruptive politics and is hobbled by patronage. And lately terrorism is scuppering sections of the economy, like tourism. No problem. Kenya uses gusto and its innovative depth to great effect.

Its strategy seems to be that no matter how bad the situation is, you cannot ignore or avoid doing business with it — often as first choice. By the end of next year it will have a terminal for chaps like all those Nigerian billionaires who hop around the continent in private jets.

And the technology innovations in its financial sector today, are easily five to 10 years ahead of most of Africa. Kenya can be messy, but it's absolutely inescapable.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is editor of Mail & Guardian Africa (mgafrica.com). Twitter:@cobbo3cen  Nekyon

Democracy is two Wolves and a Lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed Lamb contesting the results.

Benjamin Franklin

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