Oct. 21, 2019 (ENTEBBE, Uganda): The Director of the Economic Cooperation & Regional Integration Division of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mr. Elsadig Abdalla, this morning opened the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) Meeting to review Draft IRIMP Report in Entebbe with Mr. Wubeshet Demeke Tefera, Advisor to the Minister-Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia, at the high table.

15 May 2019, NAIROBI (Kenya): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, along with the Director for Transport , Infrastructure Development of the Ministry of Transport of Ethiopia, Mr. Fekadu Shumet, yesterday inaugurated a Steering Committee meeting on the Transport Facilitation and Road Upgrading Studies for the Djibouti-Addis Ababa-Juba-Kampala Corridor in Nairobi.

The two-day meeting is meant to wrap-up the development studies for the corridor and is an opportunity for concerned IGAD Member States (Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda) and IGAD Secretariat to chart the way forward to implement the recommendations of the studies on the feasibility of the corridor which was undertaken by the Nairobi-based Africon Consulting firm.

The study strongly recommends the implementation of the Corridor after carefully analysing the two components of the project and found that both components are technically and economically feasible as they scored high economic indicators. The soft part, the feasibility study, of the project has been successfully concluded. The participants are looking into the hard part of it, which is the implementation part.

During his opening remarks, the Executive Secretary thanked the consulting firm for the timely delivery of a quality product before recalling that one of the main outcomes of the meeting was to agree on the way forward with the signature of a Memorandum of Understading towards implementation.

He also cited a recent United Nations Economic Commission for Africa report that ranked IGAD as first in Africa in terms infrastructural contribution to regional integration.

The Ethiopian Chair of the meeting thanked IGAD for organising the meeting and AfDB for the financial support to the studies.

As the meeting came to a close today after comprehensive deliberations, the four IGAD countries signed the MoU and pledged to finalise the associated documents within the next few months and to intensify efforts to ensure the success of the project.

The Kampala-Djibouti Corridor is one of four major corridors that are planned to increase the regional connectivity.

The African Development African Bank (AfDB) Group funded the feasibility study of this key corridor which connects the three IGAD landlocked between them and countries to the ports of Djibouti.

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30-04-2018, Nairobi (Kenya): The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development today signed the contract for the commencement of the development of an IGAD Regional Infrastructure Master Plan (IRIMP) with consulting firms IPE Global Limited and AFRICN Universal Consulting in Nairobi in the presence of Eng. James Kungu, Chief Engineer Roads-State Department of Infrastructure, Kenya Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development.

24-04-2018, Kampala (Uganda): The Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Sudan, H.E. Dr Martin Elia Lomoru, and the Minister for Internal Affairs of Uganda, Hon. General Jeje Odongo, co-presided over the opening session of High Level Experts Meeting Towards the Development of Free Movement of Persons and Transhumance which kick-started in Kampala this morning for Expert participants and officials from South Sudan.

11/12/2017, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Stakeholder’s Meeting on the Sub-regional Coordination Mechanism (SRCM) for Eastern and Southern Africa, which is being hosted by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), this morning opened at the Djibouti-based IGAD Institute of Diplomatic during a brief inauguration ceremony presided over by IGAD Executive Secretary, H.E. Amb (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, with the Deputy Secreatry General of the East African Community (EAC), Eng Steven Mlote as Guest of Honour, and the Director of the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA) Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa.