The Northern Corridor is the main artery of transport facilities and infrastructure linking landlocked countries in the Great Lakes region of East and Central Africa, namely: - Burundi, D.R. Congo, Rwanda and Uganda - to the sea port of Mombasa, Kenya.

The Corridor offers a combination of transport modes - road, road/rail, rail/lake and oil pipeline - accounting for annual cargo volumes in excess of 10 million tonnes and combined transit and transshipment traffic of more than two million tonnes.

Lack of territorial access to the sea, aggravated by remoteness and isolation from world markets, previously imposed serious constraints on the development of these landlocked countries. Their geographical location further constrained their ability to cope with challenges of development.

Major handicaps stemmed from the prohibitive transport costs in moving goods over long distances, and the necessity to transit through one or more countries to access the sea. Moreover, the economies of transit countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, offered inadequate transit transport infrastructure and services.

The poor state of infrastructure along the Corridor was another a major constraint, translating into slower travel speeds, longer transit and turn-around times, and high transportation costs.

Non-physical barriers along the Northern Corridor route included administrative bottlenecks; documentation and customs transit procedures that were not harmonised across countries.

Differences in technical standards, transport policies and regulations across the countries also constrained to the movement of traffic and trade.

For more information on the The Transit Transport Coordination Authority of the Northern Corridor, please visit: www.ttcanc.org