Kenya to begin construction of the gateway to Africa


The Lamu- Juba railway Line
THE GOVERNMENT OF Kenya will in February 2012 conduct a ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the Lamu port. The project is not just a port but series of infrastructure projects in which the Lamu port situated on Indian Ocean is a key component.

The Lamu corridor is a transport and infrastructure project in Kenya that when complete will be the country's second transport corridor. Kenya's other transport corridor is the Mombasa port and Mombasa - Uganda transport corridor that passes through Nairobi and much of the Northern Rift. Since it will link Kenya to South Sudan and Ethiopia, the project is known as the Lamu Port and Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET)

 Other projects in the series include a high speed railway line Linking South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Indian Ocean Port, a road network linking the same destinations, an oil refinery, oil pipeline, three airports and three Resort cities. The entire development will cost a whopping US$23 billion.

The port itself will cost an estimated US$3.5 billion. Located at on 1000 acres of land at Manda Bay within Lamu, the Port will comprise of 32 berths three of which will be financed by the Kenya government. The other 29 will be built on PPP basis. So far China and Japan are said to be keen on the constructing the port.

The project is thus a complete transport corridor linking Kenya’s second Port on the India Ocean to the hinterland including Ethiopia and South Sudan. Sections of the Infrastructure network will be funded by South Sudan and Ethiopia n governments but the bulk of the cost will fall on Kenya.

The Proposed gateway to Africa
A part from opening up remote northern Kenya for economic exploitation, the corridor is envisaged to eventually be the gateway to Africa as more extensions to D.R Congo and other landlocked parts of Central Africa are added.

A1720 KM Railway line from Lamu to Juba in South Sudan will be constructed at a cost of US$8.1 billion according to Kenya railways Corporation, www. krc.co.ke

The line is seen as the beginning of the Equatorial Land Bridge linking the Port of Lamu on the Indian Ocean to the East to the Port of Doula in Cameroon on the Atlantic Ocean to the West. Such a link, it is envisaged, will cut freight travel time by at least two to three weeks and increase shipping lines’ turn-around times and hence their revenue.

The bulk of the entire cost of the Lamu-Transport corridor will fall on Kenya. At the peak of the project, between 2013 and 2018 sources say, it is expected that the Kenyan government will be spending about 6 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product or 16per cent of its annual budget on the project. The project is in turn expected to generate an additional three percent increase in Kenya's GDP by 2020.

 However, both Sudan and Ethiopian will also foot part of the costs.  South Sudan for instance will build and own the 1700KM oil Pipeline linking its Oil wells with the Port of Lamu. This will cost an estimated US$4 billion.

Kenya and Ethiopia have jointly already secured a UD$360 million loan from the African Development Bank, AfD, for the Construction of a 320KM road linking the two countries. Ethiopia will receive 41 per cent of the funds to build a 198KM section between Hawassa and Ageremariam. Kenya will receive the balance to build the 122KM Turbi-Moyale section says the AfDB on its website, www.AfDB.org

The proposed oil refinery in Lamu with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels a day will cost $ 2.5 billion. Other projects include the construction of three green field resort cities in Lamu Isiolo and Lake Turkana. Of the three Isiolo is way ahead. The local authority has already approved the allocation of 2,500Ha of land for the project while the construction of the US$12 million Isiolo international airport is on-going.  According to the Chief Economist in the Ministry of Tourism which is driving this project, the Resort city will cost US$210 million and will be developed on PPP basis.
 Visitors to this page also visited :http://eaerb.blogspot.com/

Comments

  1. Alfajripon26 August 2016 at 11:26

    With the progress in civilization, the people of United States started to move inland into the continent. Gradually, they started to unveil natural resources from the vast stretch of land.
    see more details : Licensed general contractor massachusetts

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

President Jimmi Richard Wanjigi!

Image
 President JW  A Raila win in Kenya’s presidential elections will be a win for Jimmi Richard Wanjigi, this Publication can confidently report. Raila will only be a vassal President, with real power lying with JW as they refer to him.  They will have no power for he has bought them and supported their campaigns. Jimmi has been plotting to bring down President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government since 2013 because the government has stood on his way to fleecing Kenyans. Wanjigi brought together the then competing opposition groups URP and TNA led by William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, respectively in 2012, ahead of that year’s election.  His idea was to put in power a government that will look the other way as he plunders Kenya. Among his pet project that he hoped the new government will allow him to implement, was the US$ 9 billion Standard Gauge Railway and the US$ 600 million second runway and passenger terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. ...
Read more

Construction of Tanzania’s” bridge over the sea” begins

Image
A prototype of the entire project on Kigamboni side CONSTRUCTION OF THE long awaited Kigamboni Bridge in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, has begun. Tanzania’s President, Jakaya Kikwete, laid the foundation stone two weeks ago, signaling the beginning of construction works.  The US$138 Million toll-road will be completed in 36 months. The works include the construction of a 680M long-four lane - bridge across the Indian Ocean, 2.5 Km of six lanes highway, pedestrian paths and a toll plaza The bridge will be linked to Dar city by a 1.0 KM six lane highway while to Kigamboni; it shall be linked by a 1.5 KM six lane road. In total the works include the bridge and 2.5 KM of roads, all totaling 3.2 KM.  According to a note from Tanzania’s Ministry of Works, the bridge is a joint venture between the Government of Tanzania and NSSF.  NSSF will own 60 per cent stake while GOT owns the rest.  The same note says that on completion its management will be concessioned f...
Read more

How the West Lost Africa to China

Image
Over the last seven years, I have attended several investor conferences in Kenya in which, western and Chinese investors among others, were invited. One thing stood out that explains the growing Chinese presence in Africa . Africa urgently needs investment in infrastructure (roads, rail roads, oil pipelines, Hydro-electric dams, name them) and other economic resources-be they mines or factories. Western investors do not appreciate this urgency. Many want ideal conditions that perhaps do not exist elsewhere. Others are plainly cynical. In a 2004  investor conference in Nairobi sponsored by Financial Times, European investors could not believe that the Nairobi stock exchange in Kenya, can raise US$100 million in three-weeks. Roads under construction in Kenya by Chinese contractors.  We  shall assess Chinese workmanship a year down the roa d Yet the bourse had just two months earlier mobilized US$300 million in just the same period for the local electric...
Read more