Martin Luther Oketch
26 June 2008
Kampala — The World Bank has advised African governments that the different regional integration priorities being undertaken by the region's member states will need to be enshrined in national development plans as this is where implementation largely takes place.
This advice comes at a time when many African governments are striving to integrate economically and politically to improve and build a strong social, political and economic atmosphere in the continent.
For instance East African states have implemented the East African Customs Union and are looking forward to the East African Common Market whilst hoping to form the East African Federation.
To facilitate this process, the World Bank said in its up date of June that the International Development Association (IDA), assistance will target the strengthening of Africa's key regional economic communities and technical bodies to lead the integration agenda among member countries and national agencies responsible for regional integration.
"Leveraging the effectiveness of regional IDA through cooperation and partnerships is the name of the game," according to the Department's Lead Operations Officer Jacob Kolster. "Once you ensure ownership at the country level, regional projects can then be approached like a joint venture between countries. The shared vested interest builds cooperation toward a common goal, such as cross-border power trade."
Mr. Kolster said that Projects such as the Regional Communications Infrastructure Project (RCIP) and East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) aiming to bring high speed broadband internet access to Eastern Africa and the West Africa Power Pool Project, connecting national power grids across West Africa are to dramatically reduce costs and increase supply and reliability of electricity, serve as prime examples of how regional programmes stand to help people across borders.
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