Raila Odinga in Tanzania to discuss continental road project

What you need to know:

  • Kenya’s opposition leader RailaOdinga is in Dar es Salaam where he is chairing a meeting on infrastructure.

Dar es Salaam. Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga is in Dar es Salaam where he is chairing a meeting on infrastructure.

Last year, Mr Odinga, an opposition leader in Kenya, was named as High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa by the African Union.

Mr Odinga’s mandate includes mobilising further political support from member states and the regional economic communities and facilitating greater ownership by all concerned stakeholders on the continent.

He is in Tanzania in the capacity of chairman of a technical working group meeting of Regional Economic Corridor Authorities with a task of discussing the Trans African Highway Project.

 The two-day meeting which commenced on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, is attended by 30 technical people from various African countries.

 It was organized by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development (Auda-Nepad) and Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA).

 Speaking during the meeting Mr Odinga insisted on the need to unify the African continent by implementing infrastructure projects that link and bind the countries together.

 “We need to deliver as one in our projects around the continent to simplify movement of people and goods in order to promote trade among African countries and reduce the cost of doing business,” he noted.

 He said the countries must also think of ways of integrating their multi-billion infrastructure projects to benefit their people.

 The Trans-African Highway Project is the network of sophisticated road projects in Africa aimed at connecting all the major cities in the continent involving 10 routes in 16 counties and covering over 60, 000 Kilometers.    

The meeting also approved what is known as the Dar es Salaam Action Plan that will guide the implementation of the Trans African Highway project.