Ethiopia Reaffirms Commitment for a Revitalized LAPSSET

Addis Ababa, May 11, 2022 (FBC) – Ethiopia reaffirms its commitment to continuously support the revitalization and operationalization of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Project.

During a meeting between the Advance Team mission for preparation of the 3rd LAPSSET Ministerial meeting in South Sudan and Minister of Transport and Under-Secretaries of Roads and Bridges and Housing, Land and Urban Development as well as a representative of the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Juba yesterday the Government of South Sudan reaffirmed its commitment to the implementation of the LAPSSET Corridor Project as well as the upcoming LAPSSET Ministerial due to be held in Juba, South Sudan.

The Minister of Transport of the South Sudan Madut Biar Yel told the Advance Team that the impact of the Lamu corridor project goes beyond immediate footprint countries to the whole of Africa.

Appreciating the accomplishments of Ethiopia and Kenya in their part, Yel noted that our leaders were well aware of the manifold impacts of the LAPSSET Corridor Project. Expressing the commitment of South Sudan under the leadership President Salva Kiir, the Minister reiterated his country’s readiness to do its part and closely work with Ethiopia and Kenya to bring the project for the common benefit of our respective people.

“Ethiopia did its part from Lamu port to Moyale and from Moyale to Addis Ababa. Kenya moved their construction to Nadapal and we are going to connect from Nadapal,” Biar said.

The Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, Honourable Eng. Peter Kuot Jel, on his part, told the Advance Team the commencement of the project components on the South Sudanese side and reaffirmed continuous engagement of the Ministry in the joint coordination efforts among the three States together with the development partners that are the UNECA and NEPAD.

Representing the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs of South Sudan, Ambassador Sitona Abdalla Osman said that this regional integration project is important for all of us and reassured the Advance Team of the commitment of and support of the South Sudanese Government towards its fruition. She also reiterated the Ministry’s continued backing towards the successful hosting of the Juba Chapter of the LAPSSET Ministerial meeting. The Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development also assured his parastatal’s commitment to see the project through.

The head of the team, Adeyinka Adeyemi who is a Senior Programme Management Officer African Trade Policy Centre of the United Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) reiterated the fact that the LAPSSET is a critical infrastructural project that ensures infrastructural linkage, free flow of goods and people as well as the integration of the Continent. He also underscored the need for the South Sudanese government to strive towards the organization of the 3rd LAPSSET Ministerial meeting in Juba in the shortest time possible.

Representative of the Ethiopian Embassy to Kenya, Hibamo Ayalew, reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to the highest to see the LAPSSET through its completion and operationalization. While commending the massive work and effort put towards the commissioning of this regional integration project, he noted that, the LAPSSET Corridor Project is a transformative and game-changer multi-modal transport corridor geared towards accelerating the integration not only of the region but also Africa through the Equatorial Landbridge that goes all the way from the Port of Lamu in Kenya and Douala in Cameroon.

The project seeks to unlock, he added, the untapped potential of inter-regional trade, investment and tourism through seamless connectivity, which is in turn, is driven by a multifaceted transport and logistics corridor. Citing the commissioning of the Moyale One-Stop-Border Post (OSBP), the Moyale-Hawassa Highway and the inauguration of the first two berths of the Lamu Port, Mr. Hibamo noted that, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that has recently started generating electricity will be complimenting the LAPSSET project especially by ensuring the availability of sufficient and cheap electricity for the operationalization of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) that is part and parcel of the Project.

On the other, the realization of the LAPSSET will also further accelerate the rate of urbanization and rapid, shared growth among the footprint countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan along with the creation of jobs for the youth that comprises almost two thirds of the respective countries. The proper implementation of the LAPSSET basically also creates an enabling environment for the private sector to invest and diversify the region’s economic potential thus contributing the overall GDP.

In terms of regional infrastructural integration, Hibamo said, the project connects Ethiopia with Kenya and South Sudan and forms the Equatorial Land bridge that traverses from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean linking Lamu Port to Douala. On the Ethiopian side, he underscored, various components of the Project are being implemented with some constituents of the program already completed like the Moyale-Hawassa Road and the OSBP.

The Advance Team mission for the preparation of the 3rd LAPSSET Ministerial meeting in South will also be consulting with the Ministries of Trade, Finance and Planning, Petroleum and East African Community Affairs as well as the Road Authority of South Sudan to coordinate and support the upcoming Ministerial meeting in the shortest time possible in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.