Agak in Nairobi for regional infrastructure master plan discussion
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Agak Achuil Lual, joined his colleagues from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the regional infrastructure master plan.
The IGAD Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP) defines regional infrastructure requirements and conditions to facilitate the realisation of key infrastructure in the energy, water, transport, tourism, meteorology, and telecommunications sectors by 2063.
The discussion focused on the interconnection of the member states via regional integration and trade competitiveness.
“The ministry is working hard with partners to press [for] the reforms and implement all the oversight committee resolutions,” Agak tweeted from Nairobi.
The IGAD regional infrastructure master plan [IRIMP] was designed to contribute to the continental integration agenda as reflected in the Abuja Treaty, the Constitutive Act of the African Union Agenda 2063.
Mr Agak chaired a discussion on what is called a “parallel breakout session” on the recent trends in the region that will be presented by Arnaud Rouget of the International Energy Agency.
On his part, the Chairperson at IGAD Secretariat, Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, said the challenges of peace and security in the region are the underlying constraints leading to poor infrastructure making the integration index stand at only 43.8 per cent as inaugurated by the development partners.
In the discussion, the former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, said eight IGAD countries have an ocean shoreline with significant potential for a “blue economy” with underexploited minerals and potential oil and gas as well as power generation.
“These natural resources need to be exploited for the benefit of the present and future generations,” he said.
