East African Community leads in share of NEPAD Infrastructure funded projects
The East African Community (EAC) has the largest share of projects financed by the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD IPPF).
The EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, attributed this achievement to the comprehensive governance framework for projects management that has been put in place by the Community.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Principal Civil Engineer at the EAC Secretariat, Eng. Godfrey Enzama, during the opening session of a four-day Joint Meeting of the High Level Standing Committee of the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project (EATTFP) and the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) on East African Multinational Roads Project in Mombasa, Kenya, Dr. Mathuki hailed the cooperation and support extended by Partner States in the implementation of regional projects and programmes.
Dr. Mathuki said that well prepared development projects attract investment funding and that is why the Secretariat is keen on maintaining a compendium of bankable projects which we can showcase at funding negotiations.
The Secretary General further disclosed that the EAC boasts the highest number of OSBPs in Africa and is the only region with a harmonised axle load control regime, even as he added that a lot more remains to be done, including the upgrading of 15 more borders to OSBPs, construction of smart weighbridges in all Partner States, addressing Road User Charges, implementing the EAC Road Safety Action Plan, and the domestication of the instruments agreed by the Tripartite RECs of COMESA, EAC and SADC among other programmes.
Dr. Mathuki attributed the high number of OSBPs to the High-Level Standing Committee for the EATTFP that was established by Council of Ministers in 2005 to oversee matters of soft infrastructure that facilitate trade, including one stop border posts, vehicle load control, harmonisation of laws, policies and standards, road safety, non-tariff barriers among other things.
Dr. Mathuki further revealed that several articles in the Treaty remain unimplemented, which makes the region lag behind in the changing technological world.
“These articles include, among others, accepting to interconnections, granting of special access to Land-locked Countries, Cabotage. We also note that only three EAC Partner States are implementing vehicle load controls as required by the EAC Vehicle Load Control Act of 2016. We urge the other Partner States to apply the provisions of the Act and set up weighbridges so that we can better protect our road assets,” he said.
“Further, the region’s road fatality rates remain among the highest in the world. We need to address this scenario if we expect to remain competitive in Continent. Every road fatality robs us of the economic development we strive so much to attain. Therefore, we urge you to implement the EAC Road Safety Action Plan which you were involved in developing and which if implemented will help reduce the carnage on our roads,” added Dr. Mathuki.
The Secretary General urged Partner States to provide us with adequate information on the status of their borders to enable the Secretariat source for funds jointly for rehabilitation of existing OSBPs and construction of new ones.
He called for closer collaboration support among Partner States’ institutions that support infrastructure development including the lead agencies for OSBPs and other border control institutions, ministries of finance and the Ministries of EAC Affairs.
“Our collaboration is essential in delivering facilities that address the needs of the population while also meeting world class standards,” said Dr. Mathuki.
