A report by the Wall Street Journal has revealed that frequent attacks by the Al Shabaab terrorist group in the northeastern region have stalled Kenya's $25 billion (about Ksh3.2 trillion in the current exchange rates) Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project.
The ambitious project seeks to transform the Lamu Port into the anchor of an international trade hub connecting the landlocked countries of Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Designed to include roads, railways, oil pipelines, airports, and resort cities, the project has the potential to inject trillions of shillings into the Kenyan economy were it not for the security threats.
If implemented, cargo will transit to the Ethiopian border in Moyale and the South Sudanese border in Nakodok via road and railway, while oil will be transported via pipeline from Lake Turkana to the coast.
Three international airports are also envisioned to be built along the corridor, along with several resort cities.
Despite the potential as a crucial transit hub, however, only 10 per cent of the Lamu-Garissa route had been paved, thanks to the rampant Al Shabaab attacks along this road.
Since the construction of the over 240-kilometre stretch commenced in 2021, 16 people— including Kenyans and Chinese workers— were killed and 40 more injured in terrorist attacks, further derailing the project.
As for the Lamu Port, envisioned to have 23 berths, it only has three completed and remains underutilised, only being used to handle minimal cargo activity primarily limited to livestock exports despite being the anchor of the project.
“There hasn’t been much activity. Recently, we had a livestock ship with 8,000 animals," a port official told the Wall Street Journal about activity experienced since the port was opened in 2021.
The tension in the Somalia border coupled with alleged terrorist sympathisers among the local ethnic groups have been identified as more factors that have derailed this project.
Military interventions in the past have failed to curtail the violence, leading experts to express concerns that certain infrastructure crucial for this project, like the railways, might never get completed.
The deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to quell the conflicts has also led to a delay in the construction efforts, as work typically progresses an average of around five kilometres at a time to allow security and construction workers to move in tandem.
