Stakeholder Workshop on Integrated Corridor Development - Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme opens in Bujumbura
East African Community Secretariat, Bujumbura, Burundi, November 3, 2017:
A two-day workshop on the Integrated Corridor Development Initiative—Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme organized by the East African Community and the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency in close collaboration with the World Bank is underway at the Le Panoramique Hotel in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The objectives of the workshop are threefold: to identify and support project packaging to be included in the Programme for matching with available funds and additional fund mobilization; identify the next steps to finalize programme design and move to its implementation, and; identify potential Development Partners and investors to support the programme.
The workshop will give an opportunity to Partner States and regional organizations to highlight the projects they would like to be considered under the LTTP. In addition, Development Partners will also make presentations on projects they are committed to support.
Opening the workshop, Burundi’s Minister for Transport, Public Works and Equipment, Hon Jean Bosco Ntunzwenimana, underscored the importance of infrastructure development in the region and called for more financial support from stakeholders both in public and private sectors to implement all the project under Lake Tanganyika Programme.
Hon. Ntunzwenimana thanked the World Bank for supporting the Integrated Corridor Development initiative in and its continued commitment in supporting the implementation of the intermodal projects.
The Minister said improving connective infrastructure and removing policy barriers to trade can help drive economic diversification, the creation of new jobs and poverty reduction. He challenged member states to improve the regional transport network, in sustainable manner because it is essential for competitive and improved integration into the region and global market.
On his part, the EAC Director General—Customs and Trade, Mr. Kenneth Bagamuhunda, said that the Community recognizes that an integrated and efficient transport system is critical for attaining socio-economic development at the desired pace.
Mr. Bagamuhunda noted that the Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme represents yet another coordinated initiative between Partners States, Development Partners and Regional Organizations to deliver an integrated, efficient and cost effective transport system in the regions.
The Director General (DG) who represented the EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko emphasized the importance of infrastructure and efficient transport systems to the regional economic development in the EAC remains imperative.
“It is also apparent that required investment to deliver infrastructure projects to bridge the existing infrastructure deficit at a desired pace, cannot be achieved single-handedly by respective Governments,” added the DG.
Mr. Bagamuhunda commended the World Bank for their commitment to support the Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme.
The World Bank, Country Director in Burundi, Mr. Nestor Coffi, said that the Bank recognizes that regional integration plays a critical role in connecting people to markets, both within Africa and the global economy.
He reaffirmed Bank’s commitment to support the Riparian Countries, EAC, Central Corridor for Transport and Trade Facilitation, as well as Lake Tanganyika Authority, to design and implement infrastructure development programmes.
NOTES TO EDITORS
In 2014, the East African Community in collaboration with the World Bank commissioned a study to define an Integrated Corridor Development in EAC Countries (the Intermodal Strategy). The Strategy was endorsed for implementation during the Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure Development and Financing held in Nairobi on 29th November 2014. The Strategy identified a mix of physical and institutional interventions to facilitate the implementation of an efficient and cost effective inter-modal transport system along the East African corridors.
The interventions have been packaged into a program for Integrated Corridor Development in EAC Countries comprising of (i) Lake Victoria Transport Program, (ii) Lake Tanganyika Transport Program (iii) Capacity building interventions and (iv) Restoring and strengthening of the physical infrastructure for ports and surface transport system. Implementation of the LVTP under this program has already commenced and the 2ndphase of the integrated corridor initiative will involve implementation of projects under the Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme.
Initiatives for integrated corridor development have also been undertaken by the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) along the Central Corridor. In March 2015, the Central Corridor Presidential Round Table endorsed the Corridor Acceleration Initiative and tasked the Central Corridor Secretariat to coordinated resource mobilization to implement the identified programme. In the course of implementation of the corridor Acceleration initiative, a Central Corridor High Level Consultative Meeting held in July 2017 Kigoma, Tanzania; prioritized and developed an Action Plan for the ‘’Lake Tanganyika Integrated Transport Programme.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.