Kenya transport projects tipped to spur East African growth

A section of the Standard Gauge Railway running through Makueni County. The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR is the biggest infrastructure project in Kenya since independence. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By GEOFFREY IRUNGU

In Summary

• Investments in the transport network including the extension of the standard gauge railway (SGR) and the Lamu port-related projects are likely to increase the reach of the East African common market to include nearly 200 million more new consumers.

Investments in the transport network including the extension of the standard gauge railway (SGR) and the Lamu port-related projects are likely to increase the reach of the East African common market to include nearly 200 million more new consumers.

According to new analysis done by Bloomberg Intelligence, the East African Community has been the most successful in Africa in reducing cross-border trade barriers and stimulating economic activity.

Consumers

“Further investments in transport links over the medium term, such as the planned Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport [Lapsset] corridor and further extension of the SGR, could expand the reach of the East African common market to the fast-growing Democratic Republic of Congo (which has previously expressed a desire to join the EAC) and Ethiopia,” said the publication.

The publication says the regional market is likely to have a population exceeding that of the US, which is currently at 320 million, with the SGR and the Lapsset corridor.

With time, the consumers in the expanded market would even exceed that of Europe due to higher African population growth rate, it added.