Uganda and Tanzania are in advanced negotiations to construct a pipeline for refined petroleum products, a move that could end Uganda’s long-standing reliance on Kenyan transit routes.
The initiative gained momentum following a meeting on Saturday between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The leaders agreed to fast-track a pipeline linking Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, further solidifying Tanzania’s role as a primary corridor for landlocked Uganda.
“We reviewed progress on key projects, including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which is on course, as well as plans for gas and refined oil pipelines,” Museveni said in a statement on X. He noted that the partnership would strengthen shared energy security and position Tanzania as a “key export corridor.”
The 1,443-kilometer EACOP, which is presently being built to transport crude from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the coast, will be supplemented by the planned project. While its own refinery is being constructed, Uganda will be able to buy fuel through Tanzania thanks to the new, two-way pipeline for refined goods, which will eventually be utilized to export processed Ugandan fuels to foreign markets.