African port planning: seaport redevelopment in Somalia and Kenya

This research paper examines the concept of development through the lens of foreign involvement of semi-peripheries in the seaport redevelopment and expansion of Somalia and Kenya. By examining the literature, I hone on the negative effects of development and its correlation with the maintenance of the status quo of poverty, corrupt leaders and debt accumulation. Data was collected in the form of literature review and document analysis through media examination. The Port of Mogadishu was signed over to Al-Bayrak, a Turkish company to modernize the port to international standards in a 2-decade long deal. Both the Somali and Kenyan governments have been tight-lipped regarding the specifics of the agreements, but debt accumulation and corrupt secret practices will be a reality. The Mombasa Port has welcomed East Asian capital to expand the port and introduce railway lines to neighbouring land-locked countries. This paper challenges the argument that development miraculously lifts a country out of poverty. The Western world has advised this prescription to the developed world as a method to continue their paternalistic practice. Though working semi-periphery countries does appear different, being that they too have been used by the Western world, the game is, largely, the same.