Trademark East African (TMEA) is facilitating Ethiopian and Kenyan governments in reviewing and harmonising Moyale One Stop Border Post (OSBP) legal framework and operation procedures to ensure its optimal use and increased trade.
The support enhances security and removal of non-tariff and technical barriers to trade to encourage the private sector not only to utilise the corridor but also the OSBP.
To ensure that the existing physical buildings operate as OSBPs, TMEA undertook joint training and sensitisation of border personnel, adjacent communities, and traders.
“The adoption of ICT and installation of computers, furniture and backup power infrastructure are ongoing in readiness for full OSBP operations. Moyale is the fourth OSBP TMEA has supported in Kenya, alongside Taveta, Busia and Malaba,” TMEA said in a recent status brief of the project it is supporting in Kenya.
Moyale is a key gateway to Kenya and Ethiopia and is along the emerging Nairobi-Moyale-Addis Ababa, and the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor. It is a strategic entry point for Kenya into the Ethiopian market, with a population of over 100 million people.
Serving as a critical regional interconnectivity node and a transit link from Ethiopia to the ports of Mombasa and Lamu, the corridor will enhance EAC – Horn of Africa (Ethiopia) economic integration.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched the border post in December last year. They also inaugurated the 500-Kilometers Hawassa-Hagere Mariam-Moyale road which is part of the Trans African Highway and a key segment of Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa transport corridor.
“This artificial border will be dismantled with the new infrastructure. The new infrastructure will bring the two families together and tap the potential and opportunities of business and economy,” Ahmed said.
The LAPSSET project was envisaged as an immediate project for landlocked Ethiopia, which has over the years been desperately seeking connections to more sea routes. Its direct line of sight with Addis Ababa allowed for the shortest road link between the Addis and Lamu. Ethiopia’s dependence on imported goods had shifted 98 percent of its traffic to the Djibouti port, which was about 85 percent of the whole port’s traffic in 2009.
The first 3 berths of the Lamu Port, constructed by the China Communications Construction Company, is set for commissioning by end of October 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said last year.
Expressing satisfaction on the progress of the 32-berth Lamu Port, Kenyatta said he looked forward to the commencement of world-class logistics operations at the port so traders can make Lamu the premier port of choice in East Africa.
He said completion of the first 3 berths of the Lamu Port will require a road off-take system to provide connectivity from Lamu to Moyale, to Hawassa and to Addis Ababa, spanning about 2,000 kilometers.
Isiolo-Moyale road is already completed. The Lamu-Witu-Garsen road is progressing well and is now 80 percent complete.
“This road will provide the initial off-take route and will serve as a good link to Ethiopia from Isiolo through Garissa. We have also begun the process for the construction of the new Lamu-Garissa road, 250 kilometers, which will provide yet another transport artery to the Lamu Port,” Kenyatta said.
