Press Release
Improved Donor Coordination to Enhance the Efficiency of Transit Corridors in Eastern Africa
Nairobi
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Development partners will meet in Nairobi this week to discuss ways to increase their coordination in order to improve regional transit and transport efficiency along the Northern and Central Trade Corridors. These corridors wind through multiple borders and provide an essential lifeline for landlocked countries in East and Central Africa. The trade that flows along these corridors translates into improved livelihoods for millions of Africans. Rapid, efficient transit is fundamental to competitive trade in the region: A recent World Bank study indicated that a 10% drop in transport costs increases trade by as much as 25%. The conference, titled ‘Enhancing the Efficiency of Transit Corridors in Eastern Africa,’ is jointly supported by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/East Africa) and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Over 70 experts from regional institutions, national governments and development partners are expected to participate.
The Conference brings together key stakeholders including the Honourable Amason Jeffah Kingi, Minister of East African Community, Kenya; Ambassador Julius Onen, Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community; Godfrey Onyango, Executive Secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit and transport Co-ordination Authority, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA); the Honourable Monique Mukaruliza, Minister, Ministry of East African Community, Rwanda – Chair of the East African Community Council of Ministers; and development partner representatives. The meeting’s goal is to agree coordinated, practical ways to achieve tangible improvements in regional transit transport efficiency.
The objectives of the conference are to:
- Enhance practical cooperation among all key stakeholders (governments, regional institutions and development partners) working to develop the transport/transit corridors in East Africa;
- Agree a practical coordination structure for development partner support to Corridor Development, overseen and guided by regional institutions;
- Agree a common approach to diagnosing causes of inefficiency along the Northern and Central Corridors and to defining, sequencing and packaging interventions to improve the efficiency of the Corridors.
The keynote speaker, the Honourable Minister Mukaruliza of Rwanda has stressed the importance of improved coordination, especially among development partners:
“Just as our collective prosperity depends on a modern regional transit system, so our collective action is the means by which we will succeed in overcoming this great challenge”.
The Honourable Minister Kingi, Kenyan Minister for East African Community, has established a challenge for the conference attendees, stating that on the issue of regional transit efficiency:
“East Africa is in great need of new solutions to old problems that have hounded us for far too long”.
Ambassador Onen, the Deputy Secretary General of the East African expressed the intention of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat to take on key outcomes of the conference as official EAC projects in order to ensure proper regional oversight and ownership.
Additional Background
- The need to modernize regional transport infrastructure and remove non-tariff barriers to trade constitute the single biggest economic challenges to trade expansion and regional integration in East Africa. Strong and well-connected transport infrastructure is crucial for unlocking economies of scale and sharpening competitiveness, especially for the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Regional transport infrastructure facilitates increased intra-regional trade as well as exports beyond Africa’s borders.
- The challenges due to weak physical infrastructure are compounded by high tariff and non-tariff barriers, including complex customs arrangements, incompatible regional policies, regulations and procedures. Poor transit systems and roadblocks along trade corridors create additional obstacles to business efficiency and trade. The high number of road accident fatalities along the corridors is also an area of increasing concern.