LAPSSET is country’s second transport corridor. Kenya’s other transport corridor is the Mombasa – Uganda transport corridor that passes through Nairobi and much of the Northern Rift. The Lamu delta provides a range of vital goods and services but could be under serious threat by the multi-million dollar Port and associated infrastructure development in particular, if poorly executed.
The LAPSSET Corridor Program is a regional flagship project intended to provide transport and logistics infrastructure aimed at creating seamless connectivity between the Eastern African Countries of Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The project connects a population of 160 million people in the three countries. Additionally, the LAPSSET Corridor is part of the larger land bridge that will connect the East African coast from Lamu Port to the West coast of Africa at Douala Port. The LAPSSET Corridor is intended to operate as an Economic Corridor with the objective of providing multiple Eastern African nations access to a large scale economic trade system thereby promoting socio-economic development in the region. In Kenya alone, the key infrastructure project components of the LAPSSET Corridor Program require substantial amounts of resources to implement with a budget estimate of US$24.5 Billion, equivalent to KShs. 2.4 Trillion at current exchange rates.