The second commercial port will start transit using the new road networks which have been completed within and outside the country targeting South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Lapsset Corridor Development Authority (LCDA) chairperson Titus Ibui said the completion of the first phase in December last year put the port in a better position to start handling transit cargo.
The second and third berths in Lamu port are set to be opened in May this year, one year after the facility was commissioned for dry run for transshipment.
The second commercial port will start transit using the new road networks which have been completed within and outside the country targeting South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Lapsset Corridor Development Authority (LCDA) chairperson Titus Ibui said the completion of the first phase in December last year put the port in a better position to start handling transit cargo after a successful transshipment test.
“We expect President Uhuru Kenyatta together with other leaders from the region to officially open the port after dry run for a year where it has handled transshipment cargo using one berth,” said Mr Ibui.
So far, the construction of the Sh40 billion first phase of the second commercial port in Kenya at Lamu has been completed giving the government an opportunity to float a tender to private companies to construct 20 more berths under Public-Private Partnership to complete the 23-berth facility.
Since the port became operational in May 2021, so far it has handled nine vessels and a total of 1,619 twenty feet-equivalent units (TEUs) in its first berth, according to Kenya Port Authority database.
Kenya is now seeking private partners to complete a number of Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) Corridor plans after spending more than Sh157 billion on different projects in the past decade.
Three years after Kenya and its landlocked neighbours, Ethiopia and South Sudan committed to use crowdfunding to raise the billions of shillings required to build infrastructure linking their economies in the corridor, the agreement has not been implemented, putting the project in limbo.
Mr Ibui said the government has fully funded the corridor projects.
Speaking during Lamu stakeholders and leadership consultations meeting in Mombasa, Mr Ibui said there is a need to mobilise more funds and improve security to ensure the projects are completed on time to make them viable to the country and to the region.
Contractors on a number have suspended works until they are assured of their safety and security.
The China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) in January this year withdrew its workers working on various projects in Lamu County after eight vehicles including trucks and excavators worth more than 42 million were burnt by suspected Al Shabaab militants.
With the Lapsset projects having been hit by delay and security challenges, it leaves it unclear whether the projects which among others included the construction of a port, power plant, railway and other facilities from the Lamu port, through to South Sudan and Ethiopia will be completed on time.
The equipment destroyed include tippers, rollers, and excavators that were being used in the ongoing construction of the 159,614Lapsset Corridor Project access road.
On funding, Mr Ibui said the Kenyan government has fully funded all the projects in Lapsset contrary to the agreement with state countries within the corridor to do crowdfunding which was signed in 2020.
LCDA said Kenya has so far Sh157 billion in the construction of roads and other infrastructure from its exchequer without any loan.
Lapsset seeks to link the three States via rail, airports, roads and oil pipelines. Under the project, Lamu is set to become Eastern Africa’s largest seaport with 23 berths.
According to the new plan, it will be implemented in two phases under the East-West Beltway corridor and land bridge.
The project adoption by the AU gives it sufficient mileage and exposure to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and other financing.
The first phase will cover Lamu-Isiolo-Addis Ababa to Djibouti while the second phase will connect Lamu to Kribi/Doula via Juba and Bangui.
