Project Summary

Project General Description

The Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communication and Transport Project is designed within the 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011-2016) and will contribute to the EAC’s Vision for the Lake Victoria basin to build “a prosperous population living in a healthy and sustainably managed environment providing equitable opportunities and benefits”. The project addresses the maritime transportation and navigation safety intervention area and will contribute to the provision of safe, efficient transport links, and to the safe conduct of fishing activities that are essential to achieving the goals of poverty reduction and sustainable development. It addresses significant safety of life and transport planning issues on Lake Victoria to encourage increased transport and trade on the Lake. The project is an intervention by EAC to reduce maritime accidents, save lives, improve security and bring efficient and affordable communications to the Lake Victoria communities. Safe maritime operations will attract investments in lake transport, tourism and water sports. The implementation of the project is expected to take four years with an estimated total cost of UA 25.95 million (USD 36,583,822).

Project Objectives

The principal objective of this project is to contribute to broad-based poverty alleviation and improvement of livelihoods of people through increased investment in maritime transport and fishing on Lake Victoria. Specifically, the project will establish a maritime communications system for safety on Lake Victoria, including the implementation of a maritime safety coordination centre and search and rescue centres on the Lake, and produce a maritime transport strategy for the EAC.

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries of the project are the populations of its area of influence. The target area of the project is the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) shared by Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The Lake Victoria Basin has about 35 million people, and the Lake is the source of income and livelihood for nearly 4 million people. The socio-economic welfare of this communities around Lake Victoria will be improved through the extended telecommunication coverage, as business will be carried out more efficiently with the available value added services.