Directorate of Northern Corridor Development

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Regional and Northern Corridor Development

Directorate of Northern Corridor Development

The Northern Corridor is a multimodal trade route linking the landlocked countries of the Great Lakes Region with the Kenyan maritime sea port of Mombasa.

The Corridor was established under the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) through a treaty signed in 1985 and revised in 2007 for regional cooperation with a view of facilitating interstate and transit trade, between the Member States of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. South Sudan acceded to the Agreement in 2013.

Northern Corridor Projects that are adopted at the Heads of State Infrastructure Summits are of strategic national interest. These are initiatives that seek to:

  1. Enhance regional inter-connectivity,
  2. Reduce the cost of doing business and
  3. Advance regional integration within the Northern Corridor.

Initially the office was hosted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013 to June 2016) before being transferred to the Cabinet Office in June 2016.  In January 2018 it was transferred to the Ministry of East African Community and Regional Development.

The Heads of State usually drives the agenda of the Summits and use the meetings review the progress and fast-track implementation of key strategic projects and programmes to support socioeconomic interests in the region.

 Mandate of The National Coordinator of NCIPs Office

The Northern Corridor Development Function entails:

  1. develop and review policies, strategies and guidelines to guide the implementation of Northern Corridor Development projects and programmes;
  2. Monitor and Evaluate the Northern Corridor Integration projects and programmes.
  3. Coordinate Kenya’s participation in the Northern Corridor Development, Technical, Ministerial and Summit meetings;
  4. facilitate communication and engagement with other National Coordinators in the other partner states;
  5. Promote public and private sector partnerships on Northern Corridor Development initiatives, projects and programmes;
  6.  coordinate the preparation of background Country position papers on thematic areas;
  7. liaise with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the development and implementation of respective Acts and Statutes related to Northern Corridor Development projects and programmes;
  8. identify thematic areas for research, coordinate and disseminate research findings on Northern Corridor Development projects and programmes;
  9. initiate development and review of protocols, agreements and conventions on matters relating to Northern Corridor Development;
  10. conduct advocacy, image building and publicity campaigns on Northern Corridor Development;
  11.  provide secretarial Services during the Northern Corridor Ministerial and Heads of State summit meetings;
  12. promote seamless flow of trade and services within the Northern Corridor by supporting Ministries, Departments and Agencies to identify relevant projects and programmes.

Current Northern Corridor Development Projects and Programmes under Implementation in the Region

There are 14 cluster projects being implemented by various MDAs which include the following:

  1. Power Generation, Transmission and Interconnectivity;
  2. Crude Oil Pipeline Development;
  3. Refined Petroleum Products Pipeline Development;
  4. Commodities Exchange;
  5. Human Resource Capacity Building for the projects;
  6. Land for Infrastructure development,
  7. Standard Gauge Railway (SGR),
  8. ICT infrastructure,
  9. Immigration, Trade, Tourism, Labour, and Services;
  10. Air Space management;
  11. Single Custom Territory;
  12. Defense cooperation;
  13. Peace and Security Cooperation; and
  14. Public Private Partnership for project financing.
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