Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
7
 The MCLI provides a strong example where a number of corridor founders, which were
predominantly representatives from the private sector, have created a successful initiative towards
developing a transport corridor, with obvious broader socio-economic impact, and is based on
strong international collaboration, including Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.
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 and Measures 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. Good practices of this corridor are:
 The Norther Corridor has created a strong legal basis (through the Northern Corridor Transit and
Transport Agreement), which established the foundation for regional cooperation among the
Member States on matters to do with transit transport. This includes customs control;
documentation and procedures; as well as the development of infrastructure and facilities relating
to sea ports, inland ports and waterways, roads, railways, pipelines and border posts;
 An organisation (NCTTA) has been mandated by the Member States to oversee the implementation
of the agreement and to monitor its performance. The performance monitoring can be seen as a
strong asset, notably through the establishment of the Northern Transport Observatory;
 The NCTTA has a strong financial basis, with multiple funding sources, including user levies;
 The way information about the Northern Corridor and NCTTA is disseminated through an
accessible website is a good example for other corridor management institutions;
 The institutionalisation of Joint Border Committees along the Northern Corridor.
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 ParticipatingMember 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