Railway is the route to a peaceful region

Everyone is a potential winner as new track promises better relations, along with economic benefits

Early this year, Uganda agreed to the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway linking Kampala to Kenya. This link with landlocked Uganda is expected to lower transport costs for both countries and boost trade. The 370 kilometer third section, which will include a branch to the Kenyan town of Kisumu, next to Lake Victoria, will cost an estimated $4.9 billion to construct.

Pivotal to a change of stance by Uganda, which dropped an earlier condition that required Kenya to extend its track to the border first, was the role played by the Export-Import Bank of China in persuading Uganda to stick by the original plan. Further, the Exim Bank said it would finance this section.

The railway network in East Africa is akin to the great Silk Road that was the epicenter of Chinese trade expeditions during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). This lucrative network propelled China's commercial influence as far as the Indian Ocean. Before the Portuguese arrived in the Indian Ocean in 1498, China had already established a trade network with East Africa. Zheng He, the famous admiral and diplomat of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), made several visits to towns along the coast of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. He introduced tea, porcelain, silk and advanced technology to the countries he visited. In return, Zheng He took only a giraffe to China.

But more important, the Silk Road coincided with the age of Pax Sinica, a period of unparalleled peace and order in East Asia precipitated by Chinese soft power. Embedded in Chinese culture is the philosophy of He, which means peace and harmony. This dovetails with the concept of Ren in Confucianism, loosely translated as love or kindness, which emphasises a win-win dynamic in all relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping once intimated that the concept of peace has been deeply rooted in the Chinese psyche across many generations. Peace is the anchor of all state and human relations. This is exemplified in a Chinese foreign policy that is premised on the preservation of sovereignty and the propagation of the peace. The Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence are basic fundamentals. History shows that China has been one of the most powerful countries through the ages, yet it has never been a colonial power. It has sought to influence international economics through its ideal of peace.

Because of this, China deeply understands that peace is an indispensable component for development. For intrastate and interstate peace to be preserved for posterity, development is a prerequisite. Therefore, this premise has been informing Sino-East African relations, especially with regard to the railway.

China views the East African region as a monolithic trading partner brimming with colossal promise. The East African Community is home to 150 million citizens with 22 percent of these comprising an urban population. Its combined gross domestic product is $146 billion but, to leverage this potential, integrating the East African countries with a railway network is essential. It will accelerate development, thereby enhancing the prospects for peace, which will in turn solidify development.

Chinese foreign policy views Kenya as the key strategic and geopolitical part of this dream for several reasons. To begin with, the country's economy is seen as the fulcrum of the region. The International Monetary Fund's latest estimates forecast that Kenya's GDP would grow from $63.39 billion in 2015 to $69.17 billion by end of 2016. However, the same report argued that Ethiopia's economy would slightly overtake Kenya's to grow from $61.62 billion to $69.21 billion across the same period. Regardless, Kenya still offers the richest consumer base in the region with a GDP per capita of $1,521.8 by the end of last year. Second, it has the most developed financial, technology and human resources sector. Third, the Kenyan economy is the most liberalized and diversified, which has allowed for better links with other economies for investment and trade. Lastly, the inauguration of a new constitutional epoch (premised in devolved governance) in 2010 has buttressed an already buoyant economy.

It is because of these geopolitical dynamics that China could not sit back and let Uganda derail the railway project. China could not afford a move that was diametric to its foreign policy. Having said that, let us face it, China is not motivated by altruism. We do not live in a utopia. China has a profound grasp of development economics going back to the Han and Ming dynasties. Through the completion of this railway network, China believes its balance of trade will be greatly improved. But what if, in the process of improving its trade balance, the East African countries also gain peaceful development?

So far, the Washington Consensus, or its augmented variant, has only impoverished African countries. The Chinese model is already promising epochs of Pax Sinica for many African countries.

The author is a Political Analyst at the Africa Policy Institute.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.