Regional meeting held on the establishment of a Regional Satellite under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects

Regional meeting held on the establishment of a Regional Satellite under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects

The Permanent/Principal/Undersecretaries responsible for the ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster under Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) concluded a two-day regional meeting on the establishment of a Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite under NCIPs as directed at 14^th Heads of State NCIP.

Chaired by Dr. Aminah Zawedde, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance of the Republic of Uganda and Chairperson of the ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster, the meeting was attended by Dr. Lado Wani Kenyi, Undersecretary Telecommunication and Postal Services, Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Postal Services (MICT&PS) of the Republic of South Sudan, and representatives from the Member States of Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.

Dr. Aminah Zawedde, affirmed Uganda’s priority in undertaking digital transformation as provided in the National Development Plan among the top four priorities of; Agro-industrialization, Tourism development, Mineral development and Science and Technology plus ICT, commonly referred to as ATMS. She also reiterated Uganda’s relentless commitment to coordinate and monitor progress of implementation of the decisions and directives of the Heads of State of NCIPs.

The Permanent/Principal/Undersecretaries received the report of the Technical Committee on the establishment of a Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite. They were receptive of the Satellite Project to be undertaken collaboratively and jointly within NCIP as a cost-effective venture that will also address the challenges related to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) access and connectivity to rural areas. It was acknowledged that all existing regulatory frameworks of the Member States favor the establishment of the region owned satellite, and they remain flexible to accommodate any amendments if need arises. The meeting committed to finalize the roadmap for the establishment of satellite and eventual mobilization of funding for the feasibility study. The meeting also reviewed and assessed the progress on implementation framework of NCIPs, and explored collaborative approaches to address the underlying challenges.

At the sideline of the meetings, Uganda delegation paid a courtesy call to the Ambassador of Uganda to Juba. Ambassador Gen. Ronnie Balya and the delegation led by Dr. Aminah Zawedde acknowledged the collaboration of the Embassy and the Uganda MDAs on the areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The Northern Corridor is a transport corridor that links landlocked countries of Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo with Kenya’s Maritime Port of Mombasa. The Northern corridor currently serves a population of about 120 Million people including Southern parts of Ethiopia and North Tanzania. The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) was initiated by H.E President Yoweri K. Museveni in June 2013 in Entebbe at A Tripartite Summit that was attended by their Excellences Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. The projects were expanded up-to14 clusters, including the ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster.

The NCIP is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as directed by the Heads of State, and all the 14 Clusters have since updated the status of implementation of the Directives of the 14^th Summit following the resumption of NCIPs in March 2023.

The ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster was introduced at the 3^rd NCIP Summit of Heads of State to facilitate fast-tracking the integration process. This Cluster is coordinated and chaired by Uganda under the Ministry of ICT & national Guidance. By the 14^th Summit, 21 Directives had been issued under the ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster, including the directive for Partner States to finalize the concept note on establishing and launching a Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite, and also to fast track the modalities of this Satellite that will provide high-quality, dependable broadband internet services and broadcasting capabilities. It was within these directives, that the meeting on the roadmap for establishment of a Partner States Regional Owned and Operated Communication and Broadcasting Satellite was convened in Juba on 24-25 February 2025.