President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has arrived in Tanzania for a three-day working state visit.
Upon arrival in Tanzania on Saturday, President Museveni and his entourage were received by Her Excellency, Suluhu Hassan the President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
State House Press department confirmed that the state visit shall end on November, 29th.
President Museveni who is accompanied by Henry Okello Oryem, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of international affairs is expected to hold talks on the progress of the $3.5 billion EACOP projects.
The project is jointly being constructed between the two countries and; it is expected to connect Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s port of Tanga.
In April 2021, Uganda and Tanzania signed the Host Government Agreement, shareholder agreement (for the pipeline company), and tariff agreement to kick off the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and China’s CNOOC.
The visit is to bolster the existing excellent bilateral relations and deepen cooperation between Uganda and Tanzania.
President Museveni is also expected to attend among other things the Tanzania-Uganda oil and gas symposium that will focus on the ongoing EACOP and other oil and gas projects, wealth creation, national participation, and local content participation.
This will directly provide a platform for a private-sector network, understanding industry opportunities, and capacity exploration through experience sharing between Uganda and Tanzania.
Uganda has since signed the intergovernmental agreement on the Hoima-Tanga crude oil pipeline that’s aimed at paving the way or construction of the East African crude oil of 1,443km pipeline.
It’s estimated that the project will create between 6000 to 10,000 jobs and 1000 jobs on direct hire for Uganda.
The EACOP project is expected to create over 5,000 jobs directly and over 20,000 others indirectly.
Tanzania is currently Uganda’s biggest source of imports in the region with a value addition of USD 71.6million according to the ministry of finance.