Kagame's Ambitious Challenge

selemala · 2014-07-19T18:04:57+00:00

Source: http://m.allafrica.com/stories/201407141276.html/ Kagame's Ambitious Challenge 14 July 2014 , Source: Independent This was at the recently concluded sixth Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit at the Kigali Serena Hotel. The summit attended by Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan and Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr.Tedros Ghebreyesu also adopted the ministerial report. The Summit is a follow up to meetings in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kigali and Entebbe, which reviewed the progress made on implementation of the directives given during the 5th Northern Corridor Integration Projects, which focused on fast-tracking infrastructure development in the region. "We all know what success would mean for the citizens of this region - less bureaucracy, better infrastructure, more trade, and ultimately higher incomes for Eastern African families. "We have an opportunity to make regional integration concrete in a way never seen before. We need to add a greater dose of urgency and stamina. Each success along the way will generate new challenges to solve." During the Summit projects championed by each partner state were discussed. Foreign Minister Dr. Ghebreyesu shared Ethiopia's experience in domestic mobilisation of finances through increased domestic saving which he said is greatly contributing to infrastructure financing. The minister pointed out that the reason results are being realised is because of political will and regional leaders walking the talk. In regard to the flagship standard gauge railway project connecting Kenya to Uganda and Rwanda of the Northern Corridor, the Summit hailed the commencement of the Mombasa -Nairobi sector while urging the commencement of the construction of Malaba-Kisumu and Malaba-Kampala sectors to be launched not later than October 2014. In the area of telecommunication and ICT, the leaders agreed to launch a one area network service by September 2014. The launch of the one area network will abolish roaming charges among the four countries. In addition it will reduce the cost of calls made by residents of Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya by 50%. During the discussions President Kirr announced his government's decision to grant $200,000 for ICT related researches and development. In regard to oil refinery the leaders agreed to solicit 60% of the funds from the private sector and 40% of the equity to be shared among member states. It was decided that the report on expression of interest among the private sector to be submitted in the next summit which will be held in October 2014. With regard to crude oil pipeline development, the heads of states and government agreed that financing arrangements should be submitted for the next meeting. It was agreed that the roadmap for power interconnectivity project between Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya, should be reviewed before July 2014 in consultation with the African Development Bank and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP). In relation to political federation, the EAC was given a task to finalize the modalities before April 30 2014.The leaders also agreed to work out a comprehensive strategy for joint airspace management. Further, finance ministers were tasked to continue engagement with AfDB, IFC, EXIM Bank of China to solicit funds. The four states welcomed Burundi's decision to join the Northern Corridor on the next fiscal year. President Uhuru Kenyatta observed that if regional countries continue on the path they are pursuing, there would be no doubt integration would be realised in this lifetime, considering that since the very first meeting more than a year ago, leaders of the region have never failed to meet as agreed every two months. Copyright © 2014 allAfrica.com Mobile website powered by MobStac

Thread starter selemala
Start date Jul 19, 2014

selemala

JF-Expert Member

Jul 19, 2014

nyumba kubwa

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