
Attracting Social Impact Investors
Joyce Kibet, Founder of Business Advantage presented her enterprise at the 2017 Women in Energy...
0Sylvester Okumu, Director General of Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport LAPSSET explained to the 2017 Women in Energy Awards and Conference participants that LAPSSET is a 2,000 km railroad linking port-to-port corridors in Africa. The preliminary engineering designs for the railway have been completed. LAPSSET is funded by Bilateral Agreements and Memorandum of Understanding MOUs.
Additional aspects of the LAPSSET project include:
The Port of Lamu is the second strategic port in Kenya and largest port on the east coast of Africa. It has a capacity depth of 18m compared to 12m-15m in Mombasa. It is an off shore port with 32 berth ports made of reclaimed land. The Port of Lamu is funded by the Government of Kenya and uses Kenyan labour.
For lack of capacity, the largest cargo ships cannot port in Mombasa. Those ships generally go to the Middle East where the bulk cargo is broken up and returned to the east African ports in medium ships. With the Port of Lamu, the largest cargo ships can be broken in Kenya, eliminating costs associated with crossing the Suez Canal. The Port of Lamu is intertwined with the largest special economic zone, larger than Nairobi. This will enable Kenya to build the largest industrial base not only in Kenya but in the world. The new platform will attract business and global logistics for manufacturers.
The role of women and youth in LAPSSET project adds value for the country. Their participation and development on the LAPSSET project is an indicator that the Kenyan economy is being optimized. Lamu County has been awarded 1,000 scholarships over 10 years to supply the project with local engineers.