INFRASTRUCTURE

Prime Minister Raila Odinga Friday appealed to East African Community governments to invest heavily in infrastructure development to facilitate trade and growth.

At the same time, the PM painted a positive picture for the region, saying all the states are taking positive steps to address issues that have hindered economic progress.

Raila was speaking when he addressed the Third East African Community Investment Conference in Kampala, Uganda.

The PM said strengthening infrastructure remains a top priority and Kenya has been allocating nearly one quarter of total budgetary expenditures for this purpose.

He said Kenya is equally investing in energy and has secured commitments s to raise its capacity from 1000 MW last year to 3000 MW by 2013.

He called on regional states to collectively exploit the rich energy sources in the region.

The PM said Eastern Africa has a geothermal potential equivalent to 25,000 MW, enormous hydro power potentials exist in Uganda, DRC, and Ethiopia, Tanzania has large gas reserves while Uganda will soon be joining the league of oil producers.

"All this shows us that if we pool our efforts and resources, we can be richer and more economically stable as a region," Mr Odinga said.

"We should therefore adopt a regional approach in meeting power needs. We should invest in regional inter-connectivity. This will allow us to secure an appropriate energy mix and to assure energy security," he added.

Mr Odinga said there is significant investment in infrastructure development which should pay dividends to the region once completed.

He said much of the rehabilitation and extension of Northern Corridor has been completed, and the construction for the remainder is beginning.

The construction to bitumen standards of the Great North Corridor, is also ongoing, the PM said, adding that there is also good progress in the construction of the Central and Southern Corridor that links the Port of Dar-es-Salaam to Zambia in the south-west via the TAZARA railway line.

The PM decried the prevalence of Non -Tariff Barriers saying crossing the Kenya - Uganda border at Malaba can often take 4 to 6 days, with numerous police road blocks offering avenues for corruption.

He said this may explain why despite the formation of East Africa Economic Community, the share of intra-EAC trade in total trade of the Summit is being attended by presidents Jakaya Kikwete, Yoweri Museveni, Bernard Makuza, Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda and Dr. Yves Sahinguvu, First Vice President of the Republic of Burundi, among others.