Mereja Forum

[AbyssiniaLady]

The Fading Fortunes of Lamu Port

Published 1 day ago on October 30, 2020 By Githua Kihara

Dramatic geopolitical shifts taking place in the Horn of Africa suggest that Kenya might be staring at a white elephant project in Lamu. The much-hyped LAPSSET project no longer interests landlocked Ethiopia and South Sudan, which are now looking for sea trade routes in Eritrea, Somaliland and Djibouti.

A year before his second term ended, President Mwai Kibaki was joined by the then Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir in laying down a foundation plaque of the project. The Sh2 trillion port, part of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) was projected to contribute between 2 and 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to Kenya’s economy.

But now questions are now being raised about the viability of the proposed Lamu port and even whether the project will be able to attract private investors to complete the remaining berths as initially envisaged.

As Kenya was taking its time to develop LAPSSET infrastructural projects, dramatic geopolitical shifts were taking place in the Horn of Africa, which put into question whether the country was staring at another white elephant project in the making.

Lamu: The proposed sea route for Ethiopia

The much-hyped LAPSSET project no longer interests landlocked Ethiopia which is now looking for sea trade routes in Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti.

https://www.theelephant.info/features/2 ... -lamu-port


Corrupt Kenya is extremely desperate for Ethiopian money.

[AbyssiniaLady]