The Development Corridor Strategy and Its Influences on Economic Development and Growth in Kenya

Main Article Content

Dedan Oriewo Ong’anya https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5255-6953

Keywords

Development corridor strategy, economic development, growth

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of Kenya's development corridor strategy on the country's economic growth and development. The development corridor concept is a strategic and economic framework designed to deliver Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. Kenya's strategy includes projects like LAPSSET, SGR Corridor, KOTDA and Resort Cities. With Kenya's growth shifting from exports and investments to greater consumption, the development corridor strategy could boost trade relations and diversify exports, contributing to trade revival and growth locally, regionally and internationally. This paper is the first quantitative study exploring the potential impact of the development corridor strategy on Kenya’s economic development. It conducts two policy simulations to assess: (i) the impact on international transport services through transport infrastructure improvements, enhancing physical connectivity, and (ii) the impact on growth and development through the iceberg effect, capturing the potential of enhanced development and growth facilitation across the corridor regions. The study examines the trade and growth impact at national, regional and global levels, identifying gainers and losers. The findings suggest that development corridors are not just infrastructural projects driving sustainable economic growth as mainstream discourses claim. Instead, they are value-laden practices that create and sustain socio-political orders dominated by global capitalist expansion, various forms of extraction, state–private actor collaborations, and normative life ordering. This paper contributes to geographical scholarship on mega-infrastructures by showing how globally structured infrastructure politics advance capitalist expansion, impacting both urban and non-urban contexts, and shaping state geographies characterized by extractivism and contested territorialities.

Abstract 108 | PDF Downloads 80

References

Ali, I., & Pernia, E. (2003). Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction: What is the Connection? ERD Policy Brief No.13. Economics and Research Department, Manila: Asian Development Bank.

Alstadt, B., Weisbrod, G., & Cutler, D. (2012). Relationship of Transportation Access and Connectivity to Local Economic Outcomes. Transportation Research Record, 2297, 154-162. https://doi.org/10.3141/2297-19

Chacon-Hurtado, D., Yang, R., Gkritza, K., & Fricker, J. D. (2018). Economic Development Impact of Corridor Improvements (Joint Transportation Research Program Publication No. FHWA/IN/JTRP-2018/01). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284316644

DCP Kenya (2019). Development Corridors in Kenya - A Scoping Study. A Country Report of the Development Corridors Partnership (DCP). Contributing authors: Daniel Olago, Lucy Waruingi, Tobias Nyumba, Catherine Sang,
Yvonne Githiora, Mary Mwangi, George Owira, Francis Kago, Sherlyne Omangi, Jacob Olonde and Rosemary Barasa. Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA) the University of Nairobi and African Conservation Centre (ACC), Nairobi, Kenya. e-Published by UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK

Fau, N. (2019). Development Corridors. EchoGéo, EchoGéo, 49(2019); 1-12DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/echogeo.18170

Foster, S. & MacDonald, A. (2014). The ‘water security’ dialogue: why it needs to be better informed about groundwater. Hydrogeology Journal, 22 (7); 1489–1492.

Hijazi, T. S., Syed, A. A. S. & Shaikh, F. M. (2017). An Employment Impact of China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC Projects, Int. J. Inf. Retr. Res. (IJIRR), 04(04); 4049-4055.

Hope, A. & Cox, J. (2015). Economic and Private Sector Professional Evidence and Applied Knowledge Services. Coffey International Development

Lesutis, G. (2020). How to understand a development corridor? The case of Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia-Transport corridor in Kenya. Area, 52 (3); 600-608.

Makarova, I., Shubenkova, K., Buyvol, P., Mavrin, V., Gabsalikhova, L. & Mukhametdinov, E. (2020). International Transport Corridors: Impact on Territorial Development. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 131; 654-662

Mirzaa, F. M., Fatimab, N. & Ullahc, K. (2019). Impact of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on Pakistan's Future Energy Consumption and Energy Saving Potential: Evidence from SectoralTime Series Analysis. Energy Strategy Reviews, 25(2019); 34-46

Persaud, B., Lan, B., Lyon, C., & Bhim, R. (2010). Comparison of Empirical Bayes and Full Bayes Approaches For Before-After Road Safety Evaluations. Accident Analysis & Prevention Journal, 42(1); 38-43.

Tong, L. (2015). CPEC industrial Zones and China-Pakistan Capacity Cooperation, Strategic Studies Journal 35(1); 174-184.

Wasswa, H., Kakembo, V. & Mugagga, F. (2018): A Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Wetland Loss to Development Projects: The Case of The Kampala–Mukono Corridor Wetlands in Uganda, International Journal of Environmental Studies.