Tanzania has joined an initiative to improve regional transport links and trade. The Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dar es Salaam on Monday. The agreement aims to harmonise laws, strengthen transport connectivity and enhance parliamentary oversight of corridor development.
The partnership will address major obstacles to regional trade. FP-ICGLR Secretary General Amb Deo Mwapinga identified high transport costs, complicated border procedures and differences in national legal frameworks as constraints affecting farmers, small businesses and consumers. He said regional integration should be measured by citizens' daily lives, through easier trade, more reliable services and greater economic opportunity.
Under the agreement, the institutions will work together on dialogue about corridor development, harmonisation of transit and customs laws, transparent public-private partnerships and infrastructure financing. They will focus on women, young people, small-scale traders and communities along transport routes to promote safer cross-border trade.
Implementation will begin with appointing focal points within 30 days, followed by an initial joint work plan within 90 days. A Joint Steering Committee will review progress annually. Central Corridor Executive Secretary Okandju Flory said funded activities would require separate written agreements, as the MoU created no automatic financial obligations.