Lamu Port and Lamu-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor

The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project aka 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 - Uganda transport corridor that passes through Nairobi and much of the Northern Rift. Although some basic LAPSSET infrastructure has been built (a police station and harbor office in Lamu and lengthening of the Lamu airport runway), the construction of any of LAPSSET's main components (ports, pipelines, roads, railways) has yet to begin^{(situation as per January 2016)}. Although the project is not formally stalled, its short to medium term success looks increasingly unlikely. Insecurity and political instability in Kenya are mostly to blame for this, as are more commercially viable alternative pipeline options through Tanzania or Ethiopia. The low oil prices since 2015 also have an impact on LAPSSET's commercial prospects.

The project will involve the following components:

The project was initially conceived in 1975 but never took off due to various reasons. The project was later revived and included in Kenya Vision 2030. In 2009, the cost of LAPSSET was estimated as $16 billion. Recent estimates arrived after studies now put the cost of the project at between US$22 billion and US$23 billion. On 1 April 2013, Kenya's government announced the setting up of a government agency, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority to manage the project on behalf of the Kenyan government. The cost of the project was also put at KSh. 2.5 trillion ($29.24 billion).

The timeline of the project is not clear, including when it started and when it should be finished. Some projects like the Isiolo-Merille projects began in 2007. At the peak of the project, between 2013 and 2018, it is expected that the Kenyan government will be spending about 6% of the country's Gross Domestic Product or 16% of its annual budget on the project. The project is in turn expected to contribute an additional 3% increase in Kenya's GDP by 2020.

The aim of the project is to cut over-dependence on Kenya's main port of Mombasa as well as open up Kenya's largely under-developed northern frontier, through creation of a second transport corridor.

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