After initially considering Kenya as the most suitable transit country for exporting crude oil, Uganda has elected to build a 1400 km oil pipeline through Tanzania, citing cost and security advantages. The pipeline is expected to begin operations in 2020.

In March Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya asked experts from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to assess both routes and, in a report last month, Ugandan experts recommended the Tanga plan.

The report argued that a Hoima, Uganda to Lamu, Kenya pipeline would be more ecologically sensitive and that the terrain was more rugged compared with Tanzania, which is flatter.

Moreover it is hard to clear land in Kenya – taking about two years to compensate land owners. In Tanzania, the government owns all the land, making it easier to access.

France’s Total, a major player in Uganda’s oil sector and widely seen as having influenced the choice of route, says it has already secured the $4bn needed to fund the Hoima-Tanga route.

Uganda has recoverable reserves of 1.8bn-2.2bn barrels. Kenya has recoverable oil reserves of up to 750m barrels and will now seek to develop a Lamu-Lokichar pipeline for the export of its oil. Kenya has also renewed negotiations with South Sudan about the possible export of its oil through the Lama port.