The 23rd Heads of State and Government Committee (HSGOC) of the African Union met in Kampala and approved the creation of PICI with the purpose of accelerating regional infrastructure development through political championing of key infrastructure projects.
NEPAD Kenya Secretariat spearheaded efforts which culminated in the elevation of the LAPSSET Project to the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI) category of the African Union. With this, it joined 8 other high priority continental infrastructure projects being championed by Heads of State and Government under the Chairmanship of H.E Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa.
The Secretariat works closely with the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority to promote and ensure successful implementation of these important project. Kenya reports after every six months on the sidelines of the AU on progress implementation for LAPSSET.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a sum to a tune of US $ 1,936,560 to the Lamu Port -South Sudan – Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Development Authority (LCDA). The Grant is to facilitate the preparation of the Lamu Port Project for bankability specifically, the procurement of the much needed transaction advisory services and related technical assistance; this enables the packaging of the Lamu Port Project for Investment. The African Development Bank is the host of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) a Multi-donor Special Fund with financial support from Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Spain and is mandated with the preparation of regional infrastructure projects such as, Lamu Port Project for bankability to enable countries to mobilize investment financing for implementation.