Northern Corridor unlocks a series of projects to improve intra-regional trade

The Northern Corridor Secretariat has allocated a $4.4 million budget for the 2021/2022 financial year to implement and complete a series of projects deemed essential for reducing inefficiencies and achieving the full potential for the corridor to promote intra-regional trade and integration.

These projects include the construction of 67 Road Side stations (RSS) to serve as rest points for truck drivers in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the DR Congo.

The Northern Corridor identified in 2005 a series of roadside stations, 141 in total, to be established along the corridor, 67 of them selected as priority projects. But their construction has encountered many delays so far.

RSS are multi-functional facilities based on the “michinoeki” model adopted in Japan, that are built along corridors and offer a wide range of services to drivers and passengers, such as rest and recreational spaces (e.g. hotels, restaurants, etc.); information space (ICT services, banking, money transfer, etc.) and other specialized services (medical, wellness, counselling, training, safety education, etc.).

Other projects include the building of conformity testing laboratories and the controversial issue of harmonisation of transit levies on goods passing through the port of Mombasa, as agreed on in the 27^th Meeting of the Council of Ministers held on 13 August 2015 in Kinshasa.