UGANDA: RESPONSE ON FOREIGN ACQUISITION OF NATURAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001187 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR OES JMIOTKE AND ACOVINGTON; EAP FOR JYAMAMOTO; EEB FOR TSAEGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/17 TAGS: ECON CH PGOV PREL UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: RESPONSE ON FOREIGN ACQUISITION OF NATURAL RESOURCES BY CHINESE ENTITIES REF: A. STATE 093848 ¶B. KAMPALA 02298 Classified By: Political/Economic Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Chinese interest in Uganda's natural resources consists largely in importing timber, copper, and cobalt. Currently, Chinese investment in these sectors is limited. Ugandan law contains a variety of legal statutes aimed at protecting biodiversity and natural resources, but national and local governments are not able and/or willing to adequately enforce these regulations. President Museveni's decision to give away parts of protected forest reserves to foreign investors in early 2007 sparked public and parliamentary protests, but indicates a willingness on Museveni's part to sacrifice environmental preservation to further his plan for economic development. End Summary. -------------- CHINA'S ROLE -------------- ¶2. (C) Per Reftel, emboffs met with a range of Ugandan and foreign government officials on Chinese investment and government protection for natural resources. Chinese investment in Uganda's natural resource sector is minimal, according to Aiming Zhang, the Chinese economic counselor in Kampala. He said that Chinese investment in Uganda is nascent, with trade between the two countries increasing to over USD 120 million in 2006. He noted that Ugandan markets are complimentary as China primarily imports fishery, cotton, and timber from Uganda. However, Paul Drichi from the National Forestry Authority (NFA),which regulates Uganda's timber trade and oversees central forest reserves, told emboff on July 18 that Uganda does not export timber to China as it barely has enough timber to satisfy domestic needs. It is not clear what timber is exported to China and whether it is brought in illegally from Democratic Republic of Congo and exported from Uganda. (Note: From 1990 to 2002, it is estimated that 80 percent of the timber trade in Uganda was illegal and a large volume of timber from DRC passed through Uganda. As of February 2005, the illegal timber trade was reduced to about 30 percent, due to controls put on the system by NFA. End Note.) ¶3. (SBU) Chinese demand for gold and other minerals may be ;impacting Uganda's drive to further exploit its mineral resources, although China is not immediately involved in these industries. The Daily Monitor newspaper featured an article on July 17 stating Uganda was searching for an investor to take over the Kilembe mines - reportedly containing an estimated USD 4 billion worth of copper ore, gold, cobalt, and other precious metals. The price of these metals and minerals have increased driven by Chinese and Indian demand. Once a leading producer of copper and cobalt, Uganda's mineral potential remains largely under exploited, according to an assessment by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2001. -------------- WEAK CAPACITY AND POLITICAL WILL -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Government of Uganda (GOU) established a legal framework to mitigate potential environmental harm from trade and investment but has demonstrated weak capacity and political will to enforce it. With the highest deforestation rate in East Africa, Uganda's protected forest reserves are especially vulnerable, as little timber is available outside of protected areas. According to the NFA, Uganda's timber industry is just developing, with significant room for foreign investment. Uganda's 506 central forest reserves total just over 840,000 hectares of forest, with about 360,000 hectares designated by NFA as potential production zones. The remaining reserves are held as nature reserves or buffer zones. ¶5. (C) In early 2007, President Museveni decided to allocate part of the protected Mabira forest to investors to expand sugar plantations, creating a rift between members of the public and Parliament, on the one hand, and the Executive, on the other. National protests turned violent. Although current Ugandan law prohibits the de-gazetting of forests without the approval of Parliament, the Mabira incident indicates Museveni's desire to satisfy investors regardless KAMPALA 00001187 002 OF 002 of environmental concerns. Museveni has publicly stated that the exploitation of Uganda's natural resources to the fullest is required for Uganda to become a developed country. Philosophical differences between the President and the National Forest Authority led to the resignation of top NFA officials in January 2007. (Ref B) -------------- REGULATORY FRAMEWORK -------------- ¶6. (U) Uganda signed the International Convention on Biological Diversity on June 12, 1992 and ratified it on September 8, 1993, but has yet to obtain Cabinet approval on a National Biological Diversity Strategy. In 1995, Uganda established The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to prevent public and private sector projects, programs, and activities from negatively impacting the environment. As such, project developers are required to submit an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to NEMA and receive a certificate of approval prior to developing new projects. However, according to USAID, some investment projects fail to adhere to the environmental conditions outlined by NEMA. Additionally, Uganda's legislative system provides for certain categories of leaders, such as cabinet ministers, commissioners, or directors, to issue statutory instruments to follow up Acts of Parliament and fill any regulatory loopholes in the existing environmental statutes. District, sub-county, and village levels are also granted the ability to pass bylaws to strengthen the regulatory framework at the local level. Some of the existing legal regulations include: -The Environment Statute (1995): Provides for sustainable management of the environment through promotion of biological diversity and optimum sustainable yield in the use of natural resources. -The National Forestry Plan (2000),Forestry Policy (2001), and National Forestry and Tree Planting Act (2003): Commit the government to protect and sustainably manage permanent forest estates set aside permanently for conservation of biodiversity and environmental services and sustainable production of forest produce. -The Land Act (1998): Recognizes central forest reserves, prohibits their leasing or alienation, and requires all landowners to manage and utilize their land in accordance with the Forests Act and other relevant laws. -The Water Statute (1996): Establishes a national water policy to address water source potentials and per-capita water needs and to guide research in economics of water supply and conservation technology. -The Decentralization Statute (1993): Provides for the establishment of the District Environment Committee (DEC) and provides for the appointment of a District Forest Officer, District Environment Officer, and District Wetlands Officer. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) For now, Parliament and the public are the key institutions to protecting Ugandan forest land. Museveni did not take the give away of Mabira Forest to Parliament after the Cabinet advised him of the strong parliamentary opposition within the majority ruling party. For now, Museveni backed down from the give-away of the Mabira Forest land. As the result of the perceived defeat on Mabira and other issues, Museveni is moving to instill party discipline to prevent members of Parliament from blocking future initiatives. This could weaken Parliament's protective instincts. Our contacts tell us that the Executive's attempts to give away other forest lands continue. BROWNING