Transformation of the Northern Corridor into an Economic Development Corridor (EDC)

The 15th Meeting of the Northern Corridor Council of Ministers that was held in Bujumbura in November 2003 took the decision to transform the Northern Transport Corridor into an Economic Development Corridor.

This was also adopted as the new mission of the NCTTCA and in that regard, the NCTTCA Strategic Plan 2007 – 2011 launched on 8th December 2006 by the Council of Ministers, took into account this aspect.

The process for the transformation requires the adoption of the SDI methodology, which could be applied along the Northern Corridor, to yield positive results considering the steps already made in the management of transit transport. The experience gained during the last twenty years of the NCTTCA operation will also be useful during the transformation process.

The SDI methodology seeks to turn the challenges and constraints that member states of the region are confronted with, into economic growth and development opportunities. The transformation of the Transport Corridor into a development corridor is aimed at stimulating economic growth through private sector investments by encouraging synergies between the development of transport infrastructure and the development of other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, mining, energy and tourism.

In August 2007, the NCTTCA met with with the NEPAD Secretariat and the RSDP Unit at Midrand (RSA) and it was agreed that the NEPAD Secretariat shall assist the NCTTCA to organize a high-level workshop in the first quarter of 2008 to garner consensus on the concept of the EDC.

The objective of the workshop which is being supported by NEPAD, COMESA, USAID East Africa and the East African Community will be to have the stakeholders to agree on the basic action plan.