Ethiopia's Abiy set for Kenya visit focused on border issues, Lapsset
President Uhuru Kenyatta is received by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in March 2019, on arrival at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, for the Grand Social Ceremony and the inauguration of Unity Park.
President Uhuru Kenyatta will Wednesday host Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the start of a significant visit that will focus on the shared border and the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) corridor.
Mr Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, will first land in Moyale, Marsabit County, at the start of what State House said will be a two-day visit.
In Moyale, the two leaders will tour and officially open the Moyale One Stop Border Post.
The Ethiopia-Kenyan border stretches over 830 kilometers, making the official point in Moyale significant input in boosting trade between the countries.
It was hoped that the border post would be commissioned last year after construction was completed in 2018 at a cost of over Sh800 million, but tensions at the border forced a postponement.
The perennial conflicts in the area will be among the two leaders' key talking points in their meetings.
The one stop border post, under construction along the border between Ethiopia and Kenya in Moyale area, is being built alongside the 502-kilometere Hawassa-Moyale road project in Ethiopia, which is part of a larger plan for a Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor.
Anchor project
After the visit to the border post, President Kenyatta and PM Abiy will visit Lamu County to inspect construction of the new Lamu port, an anchor project of the Lapsset infrastructural undertaking.
Launched in 2012, Lapsset will also include a an oil pipeline that will run from the Kenyan Port of Lamu to Addis Ababa, among other major infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity and boosting bilateral trade in the region.
Kenya and Ethiopia signed an agreement for preferential access aimed at fostering economic cooperation in 2012, with emphasis on trade, investment, infrastructure, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
The two countries also established the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) tasked with driving bilateral ties, in addition to more than 30 agreements and memoranda of understanding spanning nearly all economic, social and political spheres including security, defence and trade, movement of people, transport, and culture.
Last year’s entry of Equity Bank into the Ethiopian market, four years after Kenya Commercial Bank became the first Kenyan bank to open a representative office in Addis Ababa, is also seen as a huge boost for Kenyans intending to join the huge market.
President Kenyatta visited Ethiopia in March 2019. His host flew him to the city of Hawassa to visit the city’s Industry Park where 22 leading manufacturers in textile and apparel are currently operating employing 25,000 employees.
