East African trio pushes infrastructure connections
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia Kenya, and South Sudan on Monday reiterated their commitment to advance the implementation of a mega-infrastructure project in the East Africa region.
Starting at Lamu, Kenya, the Lamu Port-South Sudan-EthiopiaTransport Corridor Program, also known as the LAPSSET Corridor Program, is the region’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project. It brings the three countries together on key projects such as ports, highways, railways, an oil pipeline, and airports.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport, Dagmawit Moges, said in her opening remarks during a ministerial meeting on Monday in Addis Ababa that the infrastructure provision is Africa’s top priority as the continent moves toward integration, and African states need to closely work together to achieve that goal.
“As Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan have a common goal that aims to attain economic growth and prosperity, narrowing our common infrastructure gap should be our common concern. And this can only be achieved through regional consensus and committed action,” she said.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Community and Regional Development, Adan Mohammed, said Africa is challenged by unemployment, especially among the youth, low levels of intra-African trade and industrialization, and inefficient agriculture.
Major issues
“The other major issue which is the subject of why we are meeting today is the poor infrastructure that links the continent of Africa together. And that is why we believe that LAPSSET and similar programs will play a very big role reversing these challenges that we are facing today as a continent,” said Mohammed.
“For Africa to realize its potential of regional integration through transformative regional infrastructure, harmonization of monitoring policies, standards, the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and improving business climate must be the continued areas of focus for all of us on the continent,” he added.
South Sudanese Director General of Road Transport and Safety, Lado Tongun Tombe, said the project would connect landlocked South Sudan to other areas within the region.
The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Vera Songwe, hailed the multiple roles played by the LAPSSET program to facilitate trade and economic connectivity and in promoting cultural integration and peace, especially among the border communities of the region.
Raila Odinga, the African Union’s high representative for infrastructure, said LAPSSET would play a significant role in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Odinga said in a news conference Africa requires partners like China in the development of such infrastructure projects.