Lamu Island on the north coast of Kenya is about to undergo a drastic transformation costing KES2.3tn (US$25bn, €19.9bn, £15.6bn), featuring three resort cities – one of which will be devoted to wellness tourism, capitalising on the area’s natural alkaline water hot springs.

The entire mixed-use development is planned to include the largest container port on the East African seaboard, complete with a “Las Vegas-style city” and an international airport.

The development – the largest infrastructure project in the history of East Africa – will include roads, railways, and oil pipelines from Lamu across northern Kenya to Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. The purpose of the development is to keep up with the population and economic boom in the region, while supporting a predicted tourist influx. The government is predicting more than one million people – the majority being Kenyan – will migrate to the new area over the next 20 years.


Lake Turkana will be centred around a wellness-themed offering

The KES3.7bn (US$42m, €33.6m, £26.4m) Lake Turkana city development, the wellness city, will be one of three resort cities – along with others in Lamu and Isiolo – with a view to creating a new “tourism corridor” for international visitors. Lake Turkana city’s core facilities will include various health offerings centred around hot springs with alkaline waters, said to aid skin problems, while archeology tours and trekking will also be on offer.


The planned Lamu Convention Centre

The KES86.9bn (US$970m, €776m, £690.8m) Lamu resort city development will include core facilities and activities such as watersports, a country club, convention centre, cultural centre and other leisure facilities. Nearby “eco-villages” are in the works, while a fisherman’s wharf and casino are also planned.

To be established under a public private partnership at a cost of KES18.9bn (US$210m, €168m, £132m), Isiolo will operate as the “culture core of Kenya”, with nature safari lands, archaeological sites and eco-villages planned over 10.1sq m (26.3sq km). The site is located at Kipsing Gap, 20 kilometres west of the nearby Isiolo town.

The Lamu development has come up against opposition though, as part of the plans call for the destruction of coral reefs and mangrove forests to allow development of the port and city. As a result, tourism related to those fragile ecosystems will see a sharp decline, while UNESCO has recently warned that Lamu could lose its current World Heritage status if developers are not careful.