Nairobi, 17 October 2015
President Kagame today attended the 11th Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) Summit in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Hosted by President Kenyatta, the summit was attended by President Museveni of Uganda and South Sudan Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs, Aggrey Tisa Sabuni.
Participating as observers of the Summit were; Burundi’s Minister of External Affairs and International Cooperation Alain Nyamitwe, Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affair Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Congo’s Minister of Transport and Communications Justin Kalumba Mwana-Ngongo, , Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Dr. Richard Sezibera, Regional Director, African Development Bank, Gabriel Negatu,, and the Executive Secretary of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), Donat Bagula. Tanzania was represented by the High Commissioner to Kenya, Ambassador. John Haule. Other participants at the meeting included Private Sector Representatives from Partner States and the East African Business Council.
The Democratic Republic of Congo announced the decision to join the Northern Corridor Integration Projects as a full member during the next Summit.
The Heads of State agreed to hold pre-Summit consultations during the next NCIP Summit in order to examine strategic actions to move the implementation process even faster on some of the flagship projects.
The 11th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit was also marked by key involvement from the private sector with a dinner hosted to bring together regional actors to strengthen the role of investment in implementing key projects.
Key projects of the NCIP include the construction of the standard gauge railway, regional power trade, the strengthening of a single customs territory and collaboration of infrastructure technology including regional mobile financial services and the implementation of the one area network.
EDITOR’S NOTES
The Northern Corridor is the transport corridor linking Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Kenya. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects initiative is designed to generate sustainable political will necessary to fast track the implementation of the projects identified.
The 1st Summit was held in June 2013 and the three Heads of State of Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya agreed to meet every two months to review progress made.
The next Summit will be held in Kigali, Rwanda in December.