President Yoweri Museveni, Paul Kagame of Rwanda as well and Salva Kiir are today expected to be hosted President Uhuru Kenyatta for the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.
The NCIP is a multilateral development initiative established in 2013 aimed at speeding up development and improvement of infrastructural sector for ease of movement of people, goods and services in the region.
Among the key projects expected to feature prominently during the meeting is the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) where significant progress has been made with Kenya having successfully completed the Mombasa-Nairobi line and embarked on the Nairobi-Naivasha section which is now at 50 percent completion.
In Rwanda, preliminary engineering design of the new SGR line from Kampala to Kigali was completed in January 2018 while in South Sudan, preparation for a bankable feasibility study for the Nimule-Juba SGR line is on-going and is expected to be complete by December this year. Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract for the line has been signed and the process for obtaining a commercial loan from China EXIM Bank is in its early stages.
Further, the leaders will assess and provide leadership on the progress being made in power generation, transmission and interconnectivity, a function that is being coordinated by Kenya.
The leaders will also review progress made in immigration, tourism, trade, labour and services; single customs territory; mutual Defence cooperation; mutual peace and security cooperation; and airspace management.