Zambia has officially joined the Central Corridor linking landlocked countries to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania, extending the corridor’s reach south beyond the East African Community (EAC) bloc. Zambia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Museba Tayali, signed a formal agreement confirming full membership on October 8 during a Council of Ministers meeting of the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) member countries in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kinshasa meeting was attended physically by the transport ministers of the hosts, DR Congo, Zambia and Malawi, and virtually by the other four countries. “The inclusion of Zambia is expected to further strengthen the Central Corridor’s position as a preferred trade route for regional and international commerce,” the agency said in a statement. The Central Corridor and its counterpart, the Northern Corridor, which runs from the Kenyan port of Mombasa through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the DRC, are considered vital components in promoting economic growth across the eastern Africa region.

Source: Daily Nation October 15, 2024 17:55 UTC