Skip to main content

East Africa’s massive infrastructure development programme

A massive programme of infrastructure development is planned for East Africa that will help develop transport links and boost economic development. The projects will be implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda. Roads and highways will be built and upgraded while new port facilities will be built. Also included in the programme will be an oil pipeline, rail links and fibre-optic cable installation. In all the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project for East Africa wi
September 23, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A massive programme of infrastructure development is planned for East Africa that will help develop transport links and boost economic development. The projects will be implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda. Roads and highways will be built and upgraded while new port facilities will be built. Also included in the programme will be an oil pipeline, rail links and fibre-optic cable installation. In all the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project for East Africa will cost in the region of US$24.7 billion.

The plans also call for the transport corridor to stretch right across the continent, connecting to the West Africa. The transport links would run to the cities of Douala-Lagos-Cotonou-Abidjan Corridor and given Nigeria’s economic strength amongst the West African nations in particular, this would be of enormous economic benefit to Africa as a whole.

The programme has received both regional and international support and was discussed in detail at the 2015 African Union general assembly.

One of the projects involves developing port facilities at Lamu in Kenya, with the work being carried out by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). This $479 million project will relieve the strain that Kenya’s port of Mombasa currently faces in that its existing facilities are running close to capacity.

Related Content

  • China looks to the future with major highway plans
    February 15, 2012
    China is still moving ahead with plans that will give it the world's biggest highway system. Patrick Smith reports. As China's economy grows even more, keeping the country on the move has become a priority for the government. While the country has made great strides over the past decade in improving its infrastructure, the number of vehicles has also increased rapidly, and in some instances restrictions have been placed on them.
  • Chinese highway project under construction
    February 9, 2017
    China’s infrastructure expansion programme is in the process of transforming the country. Meanwhile its construction market is the largest in the world, comprising around 25% of the country’s US$11 trillion economy. However, slowing domestic growth in recent years has encouraged the Chinese Government to invest in key infrastructure projects in a bid to improve the country’s transport connections.
  • Controversial Russian bridge opens
    August 10, 2018
    The first stage of a controversial Russian bridge project is now complete, with the link having been opened to use by cars and buses. The Kerch Strait bridge spans the Black Sea, connecting Russia’s Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar with Crimea, the latter having been controversially annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The official opening of the 19km-long bridge was carried out by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who drove across the link in a Russian-manufactured Kamaz truck to reach the city of Kerch.
  • New bridge link for Oregon-Washington
    April 25, 2012
    The US Department of Transportation has given the go-ahead for the I-5 Columbia River Crossing project, which will link Washington and Oregon states. The plans involve replacing the existing Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing Bridges and building a new interstate transit link.