The LAPSSET (Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport) is among the top Infrastructure Projects championed under the African Union’s Presidential Infrastructure Championship Initiative (PICI) and is being managed by the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority.
The project is the single biggest infrastructure project initiated by the Government of Kenya and is meant to provide seamless connectivity in a region hitherto neglected.
The project comprises of seven core infrastructure components including Lamu Port, a Standard Gauge Railway, a highway connecting Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia, crude oil pipeline, international airports and resort cities. In addition to the core projects, the LAPPSSET infrastructure corridor as conceptualized is expected to host all transmissions of telecommunication (fiber optic cables), electricity and water. A high grand fall multipurpose dam is part of the integrated plan
The LAPSSET Project was awarded with the “Global Infrastructure Leadership Project – Job/Opportunity Creation Project of the Year Award,” during the 9th Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum held at Renaissance downtown, Washington DC. According to the LAPSSET Authority, LAPSSET Corridor Project has already created over 5100 jobs since inception.
It was also awarded the “African Investor (AI) Award of the year 2016 for the Regional Infrastructure Investment Initiative” during the AI CEO Infrastructure and Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment Summit & Awards 2016, held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The ongoing project works in roads, port, oil upstream activities, and electric power supply among others have opened up northern Kenya and created access and opportunities to over one million people.