The African Development Bank has given the government US$12million (Sh1billion) to carry out design work for the road component of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia transport corridor project. The 800-kilometre road is expected to run from Lamu to Lokichoggio but is unlikely to be funded until after the general elections.

Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, AfDB officials said the design work is likely to take about 18 months. "They have to go down on the ground and mark out the road," George Makajuma, the infrastructure specialist at the AfDB Kenya country office said. The LAPSSET project comes in several components including a port, roads, rail, airports, a pipeline and a refinery at LAMU.

AfDB regional director for East Africa Dr. Gabriel Negatu has indicated that the bank will look keenly at those components where it has competence with a view to participating in them. The bank is also funding Thika Road, the Isiolo - Moyale Highway and the Athi River-Namanga road. It is also a big player in energy projects in the country.

Experts expect the Lamu-Lokichoggio road to cost Sh66.4billion costed at roughly one million US dollars per kilometre. Negatu said at the briefing that the Lamu project is likely to feature at the upcoming AfDB annual meetings to be held in Arusha at the end of May. During the meetings expected to attract more than 2500 people including minister of finance and central banks' governors will feature a roundtable discussion between US firms and East African countries to explore some large transformational projects and look for innovative ways of funding them.