East Africa Freight Transport: Building Regional Connectivity

The study’s geographic scope consists of the East African Community partner states: the Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania. The project also covers the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
The project covers one of Africa’s fastest-growing and is home to over 400 million people, The region, known for its agricultural and mining exports, includes transport corridors of strategic importance for facilitating regional integration and trade. Although most of the countries in the project scope are landlocked, presenting challenges for infrastructure development, the region has implemented various reforms and projects aimed at reducing the high cost of transport and improving competitiveness.
The project evaluates potential connectivity issues in East Africa to 2050 by evaluating the major regional projects underway and offers recommendations for targeted investments and performance improvements.
This study adapts the ITF’s regional freight connectivity framework - successfully used in Central and Southeast Asia - and applies it to the East African context for the first time.