The Heads of State of the Northern Corridor member states; Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda met on 6th June 2015 at Muyonyo Speke Resort for the 10th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit. During the Summit, the Leaders agreed to form an authority to expedite the implementation of infrastructure projects in the East African Region.

The summit was attended by Presidents Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), ministers and delegates from South Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Northern Corridor is the busiest and most important transport route in East and Central Africa, providing a gateway through Kenya to the landlocked economies of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DR Congo. It also serves Southern Sudan since it broke away from Khartoum.

Highlights from the Joint Communiqué

The Heads of State appreciated the progress in the implementation of various projects under the Northern Corridor Initiative and reiterated their collective resolve to continue working together to widen and deepen the integration of the region through fast tracking implementation. The Summit directed the establishment of the Northern Corridor Projects Authority to coordinated and follow up on the implementation of decisions.

The Heads of State welcomed the commitment by the Private Sector to partner with governments of the Northern Corridor Member States in the realization of the vision and goals of transforming the regional economy through the Public-Private Sector Partnership in the delivery of the flagship projects.

The Summit welcomed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding that included an Agreement on Total Liberalization of Free Movement of Labour, Agreement on Total Liberalization of Free Movement of Services, Memorandum of Understanding on Foreign Policy Coordination, and Memorandum of Understanding on Cyber Security.

The Summit lanuched the NCIP Web Portal that will facilitate communication and dissemination of information on the Northern Corridor Integration Projects: www.nciproject.org

The Heads of State considered the Ministerial Report, endorsed the recommendations contained therein and directed as follows:

On the Standard Gauge Railway, the Summit noted the signing by Uganda of the US$ 3.32 billion Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract with China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC) for the Northern and Eastern Route of the Standard Gauge Railway.

On Oil Refinery Development, the Summit noted the progress made by Uganda in the establishment of the National Oil Company.

On Single Customs Territory, the Summit considered the NCTTCA study and noted with appreciation the substantial gains that have been achieved since the implementation of the SCT. The Summit called upon the Revenue Authorities and other stakeholders of the Partner States to continuously improve their performance on cargo clearance time and costs and work towards the minimum indicators identified by the NCTTCA study.

On Power Generation, Transmission and Interconnectivity, the Summit reiterated the urgent need to observe the timeliness for the completion of the infrastructure that will facilitate power trade between the partner States.

On Commodities Exchange, the Summit noted the progress made in the areas of Legal and regulatory framework, warehousing receipt system, and harmonization of standards and directed the Ministers to ensure value addition in agricultural products and develop regional trading platforms in commodities.

On Defense, Peace, and Security Cooperation, the Summit noted the operationalization of the Joint Intelligence Centre (JIC) in Nairobi and re-affirmed their commitment to jointly address the security threats in the region, including terrorism.

On Land and Infrastructure Corridor, the Summit directed the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in settlement of land acquisition disputes.

Other issues discussed and given various recommendations included Political Federation, Human Resource Capacity Building, Tourism, and Air Space Management.

The next Summit will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in two months time.