Juba-Torit-Nadapal highway. (-)

The Minister of Roads and Bridges, Peter Lam Both, says South Sudan and Kenya have agreed to mobilise resources to construct the Juba-Torit-Kapoeta-Nadapal Highway.

The 365-kilometre lifeline highway is expected to link South Sudan to the Port of Mombasa in Kenya, providing a key trade route for the country.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, Minister Lam Both announced the agreement shortly after arriving at Juba International Airport from Nairobi yesterday.

The minister had travelled to Nairobi to participate in a high-level bilateral meeting between South Sudan and Kenya.

He says the two countries also agreed to reactivate a committee formed by President Salva Kiir and his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, to address concerns over the common border between the two countries.

Lam Both says the committee will help address outstanding issues along the South Sudan-Kenya border and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

The Juba-Torit-Kapoeta-Nadapal Highway is part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport, LAPSSET, Corridor.

The regional transport infrastructure was jointly launched in 2012 by President Salva Kiir, former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

The corridor is intended to connect South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Lamu Port on the Indian Ocean.

South Sudan currently imports goods through the Kenyan port of Mombasa, using the Nairobi-Kampala route before reaching Nimule, due to the lack of a well-paved road link between Kenya and South Sudan.