Description
The LAPSSET Corridor is positioning itself as a strategic artery for regional trade, linking landlocked economies to global markets through a new gateway on the Indian Ocean. Centred on a deep-sea port at Lamu, the corridor is designed to connect Kenya with South Sudan and Ethiopia via a network of highways, pipelines, rail links and special economic zones. Conceived as both an infrastructure programme and a geopolitical play, LAPSSET aims to reduce reliance on congested traditional routes while catalysing investment in historically underdeveloped northern Kenya. Officials argue it could reshape trade flows across the Horn of Africa, offering oil exporters and manufacturers a shorter, more secure path to international shipping lanes. Oversight rests with the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, a state corporation mandated to plan, coordinate and implement the project. The authority works alongside national ministries, county governments and private investors, reflecting the public-private model increasingly favoured for large-scale African infrastructure financing.