ETHIOPIA JOINS NCIP INITIATIVE AS A FULL MEMBER
(Posted 12th December 2015)
The just ended Northern Corridor Integration Project Summit in Kigali, which saw the Heads of State of Kenya and Uganda join their host President Kagame, has brought an added bonus result when Ethiopia, which has been an observer for the past few years, officially applied to join the group which also includes South Sudan.
The entry of Ethiopia, which has emerged on the continent of Africa as one of the fastest growing economies in recent years, is seen as a game changer in the East African constellation. While not a member of the East African Community will Ethiopia’s presence in the NCIP group add weight to the initiative, which is progressively emerging not just as a fast tracking cooperation vis a vis crucial infrastructure projects but also in much broader economic and political terms.
EAC member Tanzania had at the time opted not to join when the Kikwete regime was widely suspected to let sentiments get the better of them instead of looking at the hard facts and advantages to sit on the table, while Burundi of course no longer features in the economic game of the EAC as the country is descending more and more into political violence and anarchy as yesterday’s attack shows.
Ethiopia is linked to the NCIP countries already through the LAPSSET project, which is due to connect the new port of Lamu by road, rail and pipeline to the African hinterland with destinations Juba as well as Addis Ababa. A rail link would give Ethiopia much needed redundancy as it presently depends almost entirely on the use of the port of Djibouti and land and rail transport from there, often too close for comfort to neighbour Eritrea.
Some of the most significant steps forward under the NCIP cooperation was the launch of a single tourist Visa between Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya – South Sudan though a member did not join this development – and the agreement to use a single exhibition space when promoting the region abroad at key tourism trade shows like WTM and ITB. Again, South Sudan, in view of their own internal conflict, did not joint this cooperation either but it is hoped that Ethiopia will sooner or later become part of both, the single Visa block and the joint tourism promotion.
The NCIP countries also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding covering the aviation industry. All eyes are now really on Tanzania’s new president Dr. John Magufuli when he first meets his East African counterparts at the next EAC Summit, if he will change direction to bring Tanzania on board and level terms with the NCIP or else continue to stay outside the initiative.
One Response
Big limp towards our natural cause,thank u so much comrades