LAKE VICTORIA BASIN

Entebbe International Airport, Uganda

promotes intra and interregional trade in the Basin (Okumu and Nyankori 2010). Most of the traded goods and services involve agricultural and livestock products, fish, household goods, wood and timber, textiles and construction materials. Trade between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania has greatly increased since the initiation of the integration of EAC Partner States. The processing and packaging of coffee, cotton, rice, tobacco, sugarcane, dairy milk and oils dominate Burundi’s industrial activities. The production of consumer goods, chemicals, textiles, wood, paper and building materials are also key industrial activities. About 70 per cent of the produced goods are transported by the nation’s road network, which connects to Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). In Tanzania, industrial activities in the Lake Victoria region are characterized by small to medium-sized production units, based primarily on agriculture and fishing. These include fish processors, fishmeal mills, abattoirs, vegetable oil mills, animal feed mills, and coffee and tea processors (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). Uganda has a number of important industries in various sectors of the economy, including mining and agriculture (coffee, tea, fish, milk, edible oil and fruits processing) (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007a). Communication Communication infrastructure within the Basin includes the road and rail network, air transport, inland water

transport and telecommunications. Some of the transport routes inter-connect the riparian countries. While there is a well-developed road network across the Basin States, most rural roads are in poor condition, which makes it difficult to travel or transport goods to more remote parts of the Basin, particularly during the wet season. In terms of telecommunications, the Basin is served with both fixed and mobile communication facilities. In the last five years, there has been a remarkable growth in mobile telephone subscription, with a tendency towards region-wide networks. The fixed telephone network has, however, lagged behind, affecting access to the Internet. Each of the riparian countries has a number of radio and TV stations, and newspapers. Transboundary public road transport vehicles include buses and large trucks that transport goods, including oil tankers. Cross-border rail transport in the Basin is being revived with private sector involvement, to link Rwanda and Burundi. There are a number of small passenger and goods boats operating on Lake Victoria, as well as a few large regional cargo transport vessels. In Tanzania and Uganda, sizeable vessels serve the islands on the Lake. International air transport is limited to the main international airports in Nairobi, Entebbe, Dar-es- Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Kigali and Bujumbura, with connections to inland airports within the Basin, such as Kisumu and Mwanza.

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