We should make Kisumu logistical hub of Great Lakes

Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Earlier in the week, Uganda made its first shipment of fuel cargo from the port of Kisumu.

This was an important milestone in planned revival of port operations in Kisumu and its elevation as a serious regional logistical hub.

Yet, Kisumu can do much better if we dare to dream. Uganda, Northwestern Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC are all within Kisumu's potential logistical corridor.

Tanzania's designs to build a new standard gauge railway (that is much cheaper than ours, I should add) to Mwanza and then onwards to Rwanda and Burundi only increases the urgency of the need to aggressively elevate Kisumu's status.

If we are not careful, Tanzania is poised to race ahead of us as the gateway to Eastern and Central Africa. We already handily lost the planned Ugandan oil pipeline to the coast.

It is not far-fetched to imagine a situation where Tanzania finishes the line to Mwanza (and Kigoma), then proceeds to make its port operations on Lake Victoria the logistical hub of the region.

Growing Kisumu into a proper logistical hub would unlock a number of economic opportunities that would generate thousands of jobs. Business services would troop to the city.

With appropriate policy incentives, manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods would set up shop in the city.

The resulting agglomeration would create demand for all manner of goods and services in the city - from food to rents to healthcare, among others.

The multiplier effect would reverberate through the entire Lake Basin.

One way of attracting regional firms and human capital to Kisumu would be to create a special economic zone that grants residents of the East African Community (EAC) a variety of policy incentives - quick registration, cheap financing, affordable and reliable electricity access, tax incentives, wage subsidies, and easy access to Mombasa.

Kisumu's growth and increasing transport on Lake Victoria would benefit our EAC neighbours as well. Few things are as bad for economic development as being landlocked.

Doing the equivalent of moving the port of Mombasa to Kisumu would significantly boost regional economic performance.

Arusha may be the EAC's political capital, but we have the chance to make Kisumu its logistical hub.

However, we will not be able to do that by waiting for lady luck.

-The writer is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University