PROGRAMMES

The strategic objectives for the NCTTCA are as follows:

• S01: Development of opportunities and incentives for increased private sector investment and participation in the Northern Corridor;
• S02: Harmonization and streamlining of policies and legal frameworks for transport and trade facilitation;
• S03: Improved transport infrastructure and services relating to road, rail, pipeline, inland waterways, terminals and communication services;
• S04: Enhanced knowledge management and performance monitoring

These strategic objectives are realized through the TTCA programmes as below:

SO1 : Development of opportunities and incentives for increased private sector investments and participation in the northern corridor .

This Strategic Objective aims directly catalysing the transformation of the Northern Corridor into an Economic Development Corridor. As indicated in section 3.3.1 (bullet 4), there is increasing recognition of the potential to achieve economies of scale by "crowding in" synergistic investments along transport corridors and therefore turning them from mere transit routes and into Economic Development Corridors (EDC).

Mobilisation of private sector capital is crucial in accelerating investments in infrastructure development, transport services and other sectors such as mining, value addition in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors necessary for the achievement of an economic development corridor. The expected cross-border investments should provide additional impetus for the improvement of corridor efficiency by removing the remaining bottlenecks to the free flow of trade and traffic.

This Strategic Objective aims at the following outcomes:

• A joint approach to mobilizing investments
• Proper identification and packaging of investment opportunities
• Coordinated marketing of the sub-region.
• Establishment of a macro-economic and investment environment that is fully supportive of private sector participation, and:
• Improved transport infrastructure, facilities and services.

S02: Harmonization and streamlining of policies and legal frameworks for transport and trade facilitation

This strategic objective aims at harmonisation of transport policies and regulations as well as harmonisation and implementation of instruments for customs and trade facilitation. It responds to one of the key threats to the NCTA identified in the process of developing this strategy, which is, the lack of provisions in the Agreement that compels member states to enforce decisions through enactment of relevant national policies and legislation. Consequently, the harmonization of national policies, laws and enforcement mechanisms should be an area of focus in future, facilitated by the Secretariat.

For the achievement of this strategic objective, two programmes of the TTCA secretariat, namely the Transit and Transport Policy and Planning Programme and the Customs and Trade Facilitation programme need to work closely together to ensure coherence between transport and trade policies among member states.

This strategy also embraces the need to use the corridor, not just as a means of access to international markets, but also as a facility for enhancing regional integration and promotion of regional trade. To that extent, this strategic objective provides a mechanism for linking up and ensuring coherence between the initiatives of TTCA with those of organizations that share the same objectives. These include the East Africa Community [EAC], Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa [COMESA], the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development [IGAD], and the New Partnership for Africa's Development [NEPAD]

S03: Improved transport infrastructure and services relating to road, rail, pipeline, inland waterways, ports , terminals and communication services.

This strategic objective aims at improving the efficiency of the Northern Corridor transport infrastructure services consisting of road, rail, port, oil-pipeline and communications services.

Transit costs in the Northern Corridor are still 2-3 times more than those of developed regions of the world. For the landlocked countries, 35-40% of the value of imported goods is attributed to transport costs . A significant proportion of these high transport costs are attributable to poor infrastructure. Similarly, the sub-region's exports are subjected to high transport costs prior to reaching the ports of exit. Reduction of transport costs would enhance export competitiveness; reduce the costs of imports and result in the overall competitiveness of the economies in the region.

Maritime ports facilities: The volume of traffic through the port of Mombasa is growing at a significant rate. For example, the installed capacity of the container terminal of the 250,000 TEUs has been surpassed and the port is handling 400,000 TEUs per annum. The growth in traffic requires expansion of the port facilities and services. In this regard, the ports authority has developed a 25-year master plan, which includes the construction of the 2 nd container terminal at the Mombasa port as well as the development of a second maritime port at Lamu.

Road Transport : Accounts for more than 70 per cent of the total transit traffic flow within the Northern Corridor. The entire Northern Corridor road network covers approximately 7000 km across Kenya , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , and the DR Congo. About two thirds of the road network is paved, although the condition is generally poor due to inadequate resources for rehabilitation and maintenance. Overloaded freight vehicles and poor enforcement of axle load regulations further deteriorate the road network and reduce road life spans. Member states are being encouraged to promote the improvement, upgrading and expansion of the road network, to adopt common standards for road design, construction and maintenance, and a uniform road classification system. This calls for a harmonised road financing policy and management structures, as well as enforcement of common axle load limits and vehicle weights and dimensions.

Railways : Only 20 per cent of the cargo transported along the Northern Corridor is by rail transport. The rail network essentially comprises a single line, overland rail track from Mombasa through Nairobi , Nakuru, Kisumu/Eldoret, Jinja, and Kampala and onto Kasese in western Uganda .

Investment in rail infrastructure and equipment has been inadequate for more than a decade. The problems are further compounded by poor train operations and limited capacity or facilities for handling traffic, especially containers, at stations. As a result, the general condition of the railway network from Kenya to Uganda is old and in need of rehabilitation. Worse sections, such as the Kampala-Kasese line, have been closed. Inadequate investments have also diminished the efficiency and capacity of railway authorities to handle increased traffic volumes.

The need for private sector investment in the railway network has become more apparent in order to improve services and to cope with increasing traffic volumes. The Kenya-Uganda railway has been jointly concessioned to the Rift Valley Railway Consortium effective from August 2006 .

In addition there is need to develop the missing links within the Northern Corridor. A rail link from Kasese ( Uganda ) to Rwanda , the DR Congo and Burundi requires the participation of the private sector . At the same time there is need to develop links with Southern Sudan and Ethiopia .

Pipeline : The existing pipeline from Mombasa to Eldoret and Kisumu has provided an important relatively cheaper and more efficient conveyance of fuel closer to the landlocked countries of the Northern Corridor. Therefore, most of their fuel imports are currently sourced from Eldoret and Kisumu. From the oil pipeline terminus, petroleum products are shipped by tanker truck. However, this transport mode is deemed unsatisfactory due to environmental impact of trucks accidents, and oil spills. Besides, tanker trucks impose heavy damage on the road infrastructure. A viable alternative is extending the oil pipeline from Kenya to Uganda and eventually to Rwanda and beyond. The Governments of Kenya and Uganda have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the extension of the Kenya Oil pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala .

In recognition of the importance of this means of transport, a new protocol has been developed for inclusion in the revised NCTA . The protocol will provide the framework for cooperation in the use and extension of the pipeline to the landlocked countries.

Inland waterways: Although not fully exploited, lake transport plays an important role in the movement of transit cargo. The ferry links on Lake Victoria between Port Bell/Jinja and Kisumu ( Kenya ) and Mwanza ( Tanzania ) form an integral part of the rail network in the Northern Corridor.

The only rail-lake route on the Corridor is the Mombasa - Kisumu - Kampala route (1242 km). This branch route leaves the main railway line at Nakuru and extends to Kisumu on Lake Victoria . The Kenya and Uganda railways authorities have four wagons operating between Kisumu, Jinja and Port Bell (near Kampala ).

There is adequate capacity, among the wagon ferries now operating on Lake Victoria , to carry more cargo than what is handled at the moment. Transit times on this alternative route to the all railway route to Uganda average 18-20 days.

Also, Rwanda and Burundi are anxious to utilise a ferry link between Kisumu and Kemondo Bay , on the southwestern side of the lake within Tanzania . This would require improving docking facilities at Kemondo Bay and rehabilitation of road links from this lake port to Rwanda and Burundi .

Communications: Development of communications infrastructure that supports the monitoring of traffic along the corridor is a key-contributing factor to the promotion of seamless transport of goods in the corridor. Radio communication systems for dissemination of traffic and weather related information along the corridor is important for all transport sub-sectors.

S04: Enhanced knowledge management and performance monitoring :

The strategic objective aims at strengthening the capacity of TTCA to analyse trends in the environment, learn from similar organisations, monitor its own performance, devise responsive strategies and identify best practices. This implies making knowledge management and performance monitoring an integral part of the strategy of TTCA.

While Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs] is an important tool in knowledge management, the two are not the same. Knowledge management is a conscious effort by an organization to improve itself by generating internal performance information, and accessing and processing external information in order to achieve a competitive advantage

The strategic objective on enhanced knowledge management and performance monitoring facilitates the identification of internal crosscutting themes such as capacity building and information management, as well as opportunities for creating linkages and strategic partnerships with others.