Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
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annual contributions from its members; efforts are made to further strengthen the revenue base
and develop additional services. The corridor provides a strong example in which private sector
representatives have joined forces to organise corridor governance;
 The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA) provides a very strong legal basis,
as a treaty coupled with 11 protocols. These 11 Protocols on strategic areas for regional
cooperation are relating to: Maritime Port Facilities, Routes and Facilities, Customs Controls and
Operations, Documentation and Procedures, Transport of Goods by Rail, Transport of Goods by
Road, Inland Waterways Transport of Goods, Transport by Pipeline, Multimodal Transport of
Goods, Handling of Dangerous Goods andMeasures of Facilitation for Transit Agencies, Traders and
Employees. The institution responsible for the management of the Northern Corridor is the
Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA). The NCTTCA has been
mandated by the Member States to oversee the implementation of the agreement, to monitor its
performance and to transform the Northern trade route into an economic development corridor
and making the corridor a seamless, efficient, smart and green corridor. NCTTA obtains financial
contributions from contracting parties and donor agencies, and also exerts a levy on goods loaded
or unloaded at Mombasa Port or on goods leaving or entering any customs post. This makes NCTTA
financially more sustainable than most other international corridor governance and management
institutions. Therefore, it must account for its activities. In 2012, the Northern Transport
Observatory was launched, which monitors and reports regularly on the performance of the
Northern Corridor. The way information about the Northern Corridor and NVTTA is disseminated
through an accessible website is a good example for other corridor management institutions;
 The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (ALC) and the matching organisation (ALCO) were established in 2002
on a project basis funded by the World Bank. Its main goal was to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS
in the field of transport. Later other objectives have been defined, such as cross border trade
facilitation and reducing waiting times at border crossings as well as improving road safety along
the corridor. Some major developments have been made in de last years when the five Participating
Member States (PMS) started to work together on a large scale infrastructure project, the Abidjan-
Lagos Highway financed through the African Development Bank. Although only one major project
is planned, this development is a major step forward as the Member States agreed upon a legal basis
and the establishment of a dedicated corridor secretariat (ALCoMA), which paves the way for many
more projects to come. The establishment of ALCoMA foresees that after the end of the support of
the African Development Bank, which includes financing of one-year of operations of ALCoMA, the
Participating Member Countries (PMC) through ECOWAS will take full responsibility for the long-
term financing of its operations from other resources. One of the main operational challenges for
ALC in the coming years is to harmonize technical standards;
 In the absence of a regional corridor governance body, Jordan has actively pursued corridor
governance aspects at a national level, notably through an institutional set-up, which was created
with support of an EU TTF support programme. This institutional structure includes the national
committee (NCTTF), the secretariat (ESTTF) and the technical committee (TCTTF). Supported by
the combined efforts of these bodies, several corridor governance domains have effectively been
implemented. Crucial in this process is political support, coming from the Government of Jordan
that has made TTF a priority. This is reflected in the National Transport Strategy, which
incorporates a great number of relevant TTF elements. The void of regional legal arrangements has
resulted in an extensive series of MoUs signed with neighbouring countries, contributing to
harmonisation of regulations, standards and procedures. It should be noted however that making