JOHANNESBURG - Kenya and Ethiopia are reconsidering major infrastructure projects between their countries following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they signed two years ago that failed to eventuate.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister (PM) Abiy Ahmed, on his first tour of Kenya since he became premier, announced they will focus on the development of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported on Tuesday.
“They committed to the development of Lapsset, the Northern Corridor including road network between Isiolo, Moyale through to Addis Ababa and the railway from Addis Ababa to Nairobi,” a joint statement said.
“Both sides agreed to finalise the Ethiopia-Kenya interconnection transmission line. Both sides agreed to jointly supervise and inspect the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo-Moyale and Moyale-Hawassa-Addis Ababa road networks.”
In 2016, Kenyatta announced a similar agreement with Ahmed’s predecessor, Hailelmariam Desalegn, when the latter visited the Kenyan capital Nairobi during a state visit.
However, the project was repeatedly delayed due to financial constraints experienced by both countries.
The seven portions of the Lapsset project, which was launched in 2012, require an estimated $24.5 billion with a $3.1 billion bill for Lamu Port.
- African News Agency (ANA)