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.

24-09-2017, Khartoum (Sudan): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in partnership with the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI) this morning launched the 2017 HESPI Conference on IGAD Economies with focus on “Youth Unemployment and Creating Opportunities through Trade & Investment” at the Mamoun Beheiry Centre (BMC) in Khartoum during an inaugural ceremony presided over by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Sudan, H.E Mr. Magdi Hassan.

IGAD Executive Secretary was represented at the high table by the Director of Economic Integration Division-Mr Elsadig Abdalla, with the HESPI Board Chairperson-Amb. Peter Robreh, the Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa-Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, and the Executive Director of MBC-Prof. Munzoul Assal, sitting for their respective organisations.

H.E Magdi Hassan pointed out that the conference was a demonstration of commitment to the issue of youth employment and that investment and trade were key for job creation and economic growth. He added that youth unemployment was not specific to the IGAD region only but that there was need for better education in order to prepare them to the employment market.

Director Elsadig emphasized that youth represents more than half of IGAD population and that they could be an asset of productivity or a source of instability depending on the ways their potential is harnessed. “As a central theme, regional trade and investment require a carefully elaborated analysis to meet the challenge of youth unemployment and of other economic challenges”, he said.

Dr Abdalla Hamdok noted that IGAD was home to Djibouti and Ethiopia which were among “the ten fastest and best performing economies in the world”. “IGAD countries should seek to enhance intra-regional trade by both strengthening regional cluster integration and lowering the cost of trade for harnessing the potential of a large and growing international market in the sub region”, he said.

The African Capacity Building Foundation is sponsoring this event.
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