Official logo of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), serving as the primary brand identifier for the regional transit and trade facilitation website

Who We Are

The Northern Corridor is a multimodal trade route linking the landlocked countries of the Great Lakes Region with the Kenyan maritime seaport of Mombasa.

The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) was signed in 1985 and revised in 2007 to promote regional cooperation and facilitate interstate and transit trade among the Member States of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. South Sudan acceded to the Agreement in 2012.

The NCTTA is a comprehensive agreement with defined 11 Protocols on strategic areas for regional cooperation relating to: Maritime Port Facilities, Routes and Facilities, Customs Controls and Operations, Documentation and Procedures, Transport of Goods by Rail, Transport of Goods by Road, Inland Waterways Transport of Goods, Transport by Pipeline, Multimodal Transport of Goods, Handling of Dangerous Goods and Measures of Facilitation for Transit Agencies, Traders and Employees.

The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) was established to oversee the implementation of the Agreement. The NCTTCA Secretariat is mandated to facilitate trade and the movement of people, stimulate economic and social development, transform the Northern Corridor into a development corridor by attracting investment, implement strategies to accelerate economic and social growth while ensuring environmental sustainability.

  • To be a Smart, Sustainable, Economic, and most competitive trade and Transport Corridor in Africa.
  • To transform the Northern Corridor into an economic and sustainable development Corridor that offers internationally competitive trade and transport services and promotes regional integration.
  • Collaboration and Cooperation
  • Integrity
  • Responsibility
  • Mutual Respect and Trust

Our Achievements

In line with the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement, the achievements of the NCTTCA include but not limited to;

  1. Enhanced cooperation among the Member States.
  2. Elimination of multiple security bonds and multiple customs declarations.
  3. Creation of the implementing institutions in Member States such as Road Authorities, Road Maintenance  Funds, National Road Safety Authorities, Revenue Authorities, etc.
  4. Interfacing of Customs Systems and joint verification of multiple Customs documents.
  5. Reduction of roads, police, and customs roadblocks
  6. Introduction of High Speed- Weigh-In-Motion Systems to reduce multiple weighbridges along the Corridor
  7. Decongestion of Mombasa Port by streamlining and automating the procedures and operations
  8. Domestication of some RECs policies such as the implementation and effective monitoring of EAC Vehicle  Load Control (VLC) and some COMESA Trade Facilitation Instruments.
  9. Harmonization of National Customs Laws and Instruments.
  10. Ratification of the Agreement by the Member States
  11. Expansion of the corridor membership from five to six Member States.
  12. The Northern Corridor has constantly advocated for public-private partnerships in Member States to stimulate investment and encourage development.
  13. Mobilization of funding for rehabilitation of major highways to ensure road quality according to the  International Roughness Index (IRI).
  14. Advocacy for adequate border infrastructure such as One Stop Posts and related facilities to minimize  Customs procedures and transit times.
  15. The various studies conducted by NCTTCA provided for improved planning and decision making on issues  related to transport and trade facilitation in the Member States.
  16. Effective Monitoring System through Transport Observatory and Dashboard.

Partners

The Northern Corridor traverses the economic spheres of several regional economic communities, notably the EAC, COMESA, IGAD, and CEPGL. All these RECs undertake programmes that impact on the Northern Corridor hence need for a collaborative approach and partnership in trade facilitation particularly harmonisation of the documentation and procedures. Besides the RECs there are other intergovernmental organizations with similar mandates with which NCTTCA has to partner in order to achieve certain outcomes, such as PMAESA, ICGLR, IBN.

NCTTCA continues to work with diverse development partners/Donors, such as the AfDB, TMEA, EU, UNECA, USAID/COMPETE, World Bank/SSATP, and World Customs Organization, to mention a few. Most of these organizations continue to support infrastructure development and other projects along the corridor as well as provision of technical Assistance support to the Secretariat.

In this regard, NCTTCA has built smart partnerships with EAC and COMESA for implementation of trade and transport facilitation instruments agreed under the tripartite arrangement; One-Stop Border Posts, Integrated Border Management systems, Electronic Single Window System; and a regional Overload Control System.

The Northern Corridor is also collaborating with Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) to establish a Corridor performance monitoring system, code-named the “Transport Observatory”. This is a web-based tool aimed at monitoring and measuring key corridor performance indicators and providing accurate information on delays, transport costs, volume & capacity, and infrastructure quality, serving as an evidence-based framework for policy decision-making. Details of the transport observatory are available on our web portal:  http://top.ttcanc.org