LAPSSET CORRIDOR CONNECTING KENYA ETHIOPIA AND SOUTH SUDAN HAS BEEN LONG COMING |WHERE IS IT NOW?

More than ten years after its launch, the LAPSSET Corridor remains a project caught between delivery and ambition. Envisioned under #KenyaVision2030 as a game-changing gateway linking the Indian Ocean to #Ethiopia and #SouthSudan, LAPSSET has recorded visible progress, even as full corridor integration continues to lag behind.

The clearest success so far is the #LamuPort, now operational and handling international cargo, offering a glimpse of what the corridor was meant to become. Road infrastructure, particularly the #LamuGarissaIsiolo highway, has also advanced and enabled inland cargo movement. However, recurring flood damage, land compensation disputes, and incomplete cross-border links continue to limit seamless connectivity. Most critically, the railway backbone—central to moving large volumes of cargo cheaply and efficiently—has yet to be built. At the same time, oil pipelines and wider energy infrastructure remain stuck at feasibility stage, leaving once-key pillars of the programme uncertain.

Other planned elements, including airports, resort cities, and special economic zones, remain long-term prospects that depend heavily on transport and energy connectivity being completed first. While improved security and coordination by the #LAPSSETCorridorDevelopmentAuthority have brought stability to the programme, persistent governance and financing challenges remain unresolved.

By 2025, #LAPSSET is no longer a paper concept, but neither is it a fully functioning corridor. Its ultimate impact will depend on whether Kenya and its regional partners can navigate the difficult middle phase—integrating rail, energy, and urban systems—so that LAPSSET evolves beyond isolated projects and genuinely transforms #EastAfricaTrade.

#LAPSSET #LamuPort #KenyaVision2030 #InfrastructureDevelopment #EastAfrica #RegionalIntegration #TradeCorridors #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #AfricanInfrastructure #TransportAndLogistics #EconomicDevelopment #OilAndGasAfrica #RailwayDevelopment #RoadInfrastructure #PortDevelopment #AfCFTA #HornOfAfrica