IGAD Opens a Bridge to Cross-Border Cooperation in Moyale

Oct 2 , 2023

To bolster the country’s logistics performance, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), along with the Regional Migration Fund (RMF), has inaugurated its cross-border development facilitation office in Moyale, the border between Ethiopia and Kenya. Dubbed the IGAD Moyale Field Cross-border Coordination Office, it is tasked to boost cooperation between the two countries and facilitate large-scale trade across the border. The inauguration ceremony was lauded by Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of IGAD, as forging a common front to advance shared objectives. The country currently ranks 112th in logistics performance. The need to access additional logistics corridors marks a deliberate effort to reduce Ethiopia’s reliance on the Djibouti corridor, which presently handles an overwhelming 95pc of its transits. Ethiopian exports to Kenya accounted for 15.2 million dollars in 2021, according to Trading Economics. Kenya and Ethiopia share 861Km porous border that traverses across multiple regions on both sides;  Marsabit, Turkana, Waji, and Mandera Counties in Kenyan, and Borana and Dawa zones in Ethiopia. According to a United Nations report, the cross-border area is characterised by poorly developed physical infrastructure, depicting that all the development indices in the area are much lower than the national averages of other countries.