After enduring weeks of tribulations that included a protracted grilling by the US Congress over safety issues in his company’s vehicles, Toyota’s President, Akio Toyoda will later this month land in Nairobi to put last touches to a project billed as the company’s biggest investment of the decade.

The highlight of Toyota’s massive venture will be Sh114 billion investment in 1400 kilometre-long oil export pipeline stretching from Juba, Southern Sudan to the Coastal town of Lamu. Although the company says it is yet to commence negotiations with the concerned governments, its optimism is spelled out in an elaborate project plan Financial Journal has obtained.

It plans to operate on a Build Own and Transfer (BOT) model. Under the arrangement the venture will not require the Kenyan and Southern Sudanese governments to put in any monies initially, but Toyota will build and operate it for 20 years, as it recoups its investment and thereafter transfer its ownership to the two governments.

Regional headquarters

Last week, chief executive of Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), Takashi Hattori was in the county to hasten proceedings, as Toyota gears up to establish its regional headquarters in Nairobi. TTC is the trading and investment arm of the Toyota Group.

The company has reportedly identified a suitable site along Mombasa Road to host the regional headquarters, which will be responsible for new projects and investments in East Africa.

"We will begin by setting up a new logistics hub, that will serve the greater Eastern Africa region, with possibility of expanding the company’s current local assembly of vehicles to take advantage of the recently launched East African Customs Union," says Hattori.

Toyota is divided into six major business divisions that include metals, machinery and electronics, automotive, energy and chemicals. It also has divisions that deal with produce, foodstuff and other materials.

Already, TTC has appointed Mr Eiichi Kaneko as General Manager and representative at the Nairobi office. The headquarters will be independent from Toyota East Africa.

Boost efficiencies

The move makes good sense under Toyota’s expansionist policy. It will guarantee a number of synergies, which, as Hattori, points out, is euphemism for cost-cutting. It will also enhance the company’s distribution network across the region.

"This is good news to the regional market, because we will make spare parts readily available. Contrary to past situations when customers were forced to sometimes wait up to six months for spare parts to be delivered, the parts will now be readily available," says Kaneko.

Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito is expected in the country later this week, on his maiden trip to the continent to cement the new found relationship between Kenya and Japan.

Toyota’s huge catalogue of planned investments also includes participation in geothermal power generation and field development.

It says it will also consider setting up a motor cycle assembly plant locally, to take advantage of the booming motor cycle business being fanned by the explosion of boda boda (motor cycle) taxi operators.

Supplying automotive spare parts locally will cut both the costs and inconveniences of transporting them over long distances, and cushion customers as well as the company against foreign currency fluctuations.

Although it could be good news to local customers, second-hand car part dealers and the middlemen who do business with them could find the going difficult, once the planned logistics hub takes off, as their products can’t compete fairly with evenly priced new automotive parts.

It could be too soon to put numbers, but Toyota believes the consequence will be a huge increase in the consumption of its products, and increased job opportunities for locals.

"We will utilise local labour as much as possible. That is what we do in all the places we operate," says Kaneko.

To a large extent, Toyota’s move follows Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s invitation to the world’s biggest automotive company to invest in Kenya, due to its strategic location as the regional business hub and a resource pool of skilled labour force.

Wider market

Just as important were strategic considerations, such as East Africa’s Customs Union rule, which zero-rates duties for products made within the region and the country’s central location in the region and as a foothold for making Toyota’s products more competitive.

The company’s executives puts customer perception of the company high on the list of items they hope will improve, once it sets shop here.

"What the public thinks of us is very important to us," says Hattori.

The reputation of Toyota has been severely blistered by a string of problems across a range of vehicles.

The main issues have been faulty accelerator pedals, getting stuck in floor mats, and a problem with braking systems on its hybrid models.

In remarks he read to the US Congressional Committee, Toyota’s President, Toyoda admitted that the firm’s expansion "may have been too quick".

The grandson of the company’s founder, Toyoda was quoted by BBC as saying he took a personal responsibility for improving the quality of Toyota cars.

"All Toyota vehicles bear my name. For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well. I, more than anyone, wish for Toyota’s cars to be safe, and for our customers to feel safe when they use our vehicles."

He added: "We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organisation and we should be sincerely mindful of that."

The company’s other plans in the non- automotive sector include participating in the country’s green power programme, especially in geo-thermal power generation and field development, as well as in solar photovoltaic power generation.

The company says the new regional headquarters will be established by September. Hattori says his visit, which involved holding a number of meetings with concerned government officials, went well.

"So far, things are going well. We like the spirit," he told Financial Journal.

Wish this article could be posted under the Lamu port thread. At least this is one major project I have a strong feeling will get built.

South Sudan Kenya pipeline is "uneconomical" says oil minister

Sudan’s petroleum minister and leading Southern Sudan ruling party official described a proposed pipeline to take oil from Southern Sudan to world markets through Kenya as, “uneconomical.”

Dr. Lual Deng, minister of petroleum in the National Unity Government told the independent daily, Khartoum-based Al-Akhbar on Sunday that such pipeline, "is not economical and it will be expensive."

"If you are forced, economy does not make sense, but under peaceful conditions we will continue to use existing facilities," he further said referring to the use existing pipeline transporting oil to Port Sudan in case of southern Sudan independence.

Though most of oil reserves are in the South, downstream facilities like pipelines, storage and refinery are in the North. Sudan produces currently an average of some 485,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Sudan has a number of pipelines, mostly in the North, extending over 3700 km, with a capacity to carry 1.5 million bpd and storage facility with 4.8 million barrels capacity.

The Japanese company Toyota has been floating an idea of constructing a pipeline from Southern Sudan to Kenya with an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, though some experts believe such a pipeline may cost several billion dollars given the tough topography of the region and its length over 3600 km and that it may need years to complete a credible feasibility study and years to construct, provided that finance is guaranteed.

South Sudan Kenya pipeline is "uneconomical" says oil minister

Sudan’s petroleum minister and leading Southern Sudan ruling party official described a proposed pipeline to take oil from Southern Sudan to world markets through Kenya as, “uneconomical.”

Dr. Lual Deng, minister of petroleum in the National Unity Government told the independent daily, Khartoum-based Al-Akhbar on Sunday that such pipeline, "is not economical and it will be expensive."

"If you are forced, economy does not make sense, but under peaceful conditions we will continue to use existing facilities," he further said referring to the use existing pipeline transporting oil to Port Sudan in case of southern Sudan independence.

Though most of oil reserves are in the South, downstream facilities like pipelines, storage and refinery are in the North. Sudan produces currently an average of some 485,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Sudan has a number of pipelines, mostly in the North, extending over 3700 km, with a capacity to carry 1.5 million bpd and storage facility with 4.8 million barrels capacity.

The Japanese company Toyota has been floating an idea of constructing a pipeline from Southern Sudan to Kenya with an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, though some experts believe such a pipeline may cost several billion dollars given the tough topography of the region and its length over 3600 km and that it may need years to complete a credible feasibility study and years to construct, provided that finance is guaranteed.

Anybody is entitled to their opinion. After the referendum, come back and you will notice the mood will have changed, the topography issue is bull. Japan should go right ahead with the project.

Anybody is entitled to their opinion. After the referendum, come back and you will notice the mood will have changed, the topography issue is bull. Japan should go right ahead with the project.

because after 2011 gravity will no longer be an issue:lol:, topography is a huge issue.
Toyota hasn't got a contract to build the pipe line and the people who would be paying for the pipe line don't want it.

with out the pipeline to Lamu I imagine it would be even harder to secure funding to build the port.

with out the pipeline to Lamu I imagine it would be even harder to secure funding to build the port.

actually it could be harder to get funding, but definitely not impossible. The Kenyan government has said that that port is something that has to be built. with or without the pipeline, that port is something Kenya, and East Africa as a whole need.

Is what you just posted there official? Is the South Sudanese government against the idea, or was it just one minister expressing his opinion?

Is what you just posted there official? Is the South Sudanese government against the idea, or was it just one minister expressing his opinion?

its the oil minister he is responsible for all oil related matters.

actually it could be harder to get funding, but definitely not impossible. The Kenyan government has said that that port is something that has to be built. with or without the pipeline, that port is something Kenya, and East Africa as a whole need.

Is what you just posted there official? Is the South Sudanese government against the idea, or was it just one minister expressing his opinion?

Nothing but an opinion by a junior SPLM official.....Anyways, he is just telling them what they want to hear.

because after 2011 gravity will no longer be an issue:lol:, topography is a huge issue.
Toyota hasn't got a contract to build the pipe line and the people who would be paying for the pipe line don't want it.

i dont get you, is it that you are bitter because port sudan WILL lose business to kenya or are you just bitter because you know the south will split from the north???

i dont get why this got you so worked up??? why you hate kenya so much dude???

i have followed your post about kenya of SSC and most times your hatred for kenya and anything kenyan is just high.

nways sinse you are quick to tell us how much you hate kenya then let me tell you what i think i bout your hatred, FUCK HATERS!!! you aint gotta like kenya but you aint gotta be a hater.

with out the pipeline to Lamu I imagine it would be even harder to secure funding to build the port.

South Sudanese and Kenyans will stay brothers ceaselessly.Our relationship is not all about oil.You should take such news with a pinch of salt.Even if it was true,the pipeline deal will not affect the bilateral trade agreement which was signed btwn the two in 1977 which has helped in enhancing ties in many areas,such as:

- Trade and Investment
- Agriculture and allied sectors
- Civil Aviation
- Tourism and Immigration
- Regional Integration(through COMESA and IGAD)
- International Trade Fares and Delegations
- Security Co-operation along common borders etc

And the port will get built regardless.

i dont get you, is it that you are bitter because port sudan WILL lose business to kenya or are you just bitter because you know the south will split from the north???


simply trying to secure my Countries economic interest, to insure that the South pays its transit fees to the North rather than Kenya.
Even if the South did decide to switch to a port (that is still on the drawing board) it would take years to build the pipeline by that time the South's reserves would have become significantly drawn down, oil production in Sudan peaked in 2007 at 600,000 now it has dropped to 470,000.

South Sudanese and Kenyans will stay brothers ceaselessly.Our relationship is not all about oil.You should take such news with a pinch of salt.Even if it was true,the pipeline deal will not affect the bilateral trade agreement which was signed btwn the two in 1977 which has helped in enhancing ties in many areas,such as:

- Trade and Investment
- Agriculture and allied sectors
- Civil Aviation
- Tourism and Immigration
- Regional Integration(through COMESA and IGAD)
- International Trade Fares and Delegations
- Security Co-operation along common borders etc

And the port will get built regardless.

Good for South Sudan and Kenya. I am not being spiteful I wish all the best for Kenya, South Sudan and all of the Comesa region which we are a part of.

Nothing but an opinion by a junior SPLM official.....Anyways, he is just telling them what they want to hear.

he is the Oil minister a Ministry that is more important to the South then any other.:nuts:

Kenya and Africa’s latest independent state– South Sudan

Nairobi (SomalilandPress)–Kenya is tapping billions of shillings in new investments from what is emerging as an early harvest of the fruits of the looming birth of Africa’s latest independent state — South Sudan.

East Africa’s largest economy has emerged as the major beneficiary of the expectation that Southern Sudanese will choose independence in January — sparking a race among foreign governments with the financial muscle to develop infrastructure that the new state will require to trade with the world.

South Sudan currently relies heavily on Port Sudan to take its key export, oil, to the global market, raising its exposure to the North in the event of political disagreement between the two after the separation.

Analysts at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) say the South’s search for an alternative transport corridor to reduce its dependence on the North has opened for Kenya an opportunity to attract billions of dollars in fresh infrastructure investment and an advantage in the scramble for foreign direct investments to East Africa.

“As East Africa’s economic powerhouse, Kenya stands to benefit from the emergence of a large new market in South Sudan and major infrastructure that the country will need to engage commercially with the world, including oil exportation,” says ICG in its latest report on the possible impact of Southern independence on neighbouring states.

Kenya has already bagged nearly $5 billion in new investment as Asia’s economic giants Japan and China scramble for a share of the infrastructure that South Sudan will need to secure its trade with the world after independence. The projects include construction of an oil refinery and sea port in Lamu, a 1,400 kilometre oil pipeline that will link Juba, Southern Sudanese capital to the Lamu port and construction of a new Mombasa-Kampala standard gauge railway line. Heavy investment is also being made in the 1,130 kilometre road that links Nairobi to Juba to cut the more than 26 hours it currently takes to cover the distance.

The combined cost of the projects is estimated at $10 billion (Sh750 billion) or 34 per cent of Kenya’s Sh2.2 trillion gross domestic product (GDP). Southern Sudan remains totally dependent on Port Sudan, in the country’s North, to export oil – its main source of revenue that has attracted heavy Chinese and Japanese interest.

Lamu’s deep waters have earned it top marks as the possible location of a new port that the Kenya government has wanted to build since the 1980s with little success in raising the money it needs for it. It now appears that the emerging geopolitical situation is working to Kenya’s advantage offering the potential to upgrade its infrastructure and create thousands of new jobs.

Japan and China — keen to protect their investments in Southern Sudan— have signed multi-billion shilling contracts with the Kenya government to help finance the projects, setting the stage for execution of the public works with the potential of transforming the country’s infrastructure.

Japan and China have been the most aggressive investors in Southern Sudan pursuing oil and gas they need to drive their economies – which are ranked the world’s second and third largest, respectively. Sudan’s oil deposits are estimated at 6.614 billion barrels with 85 per cent of it located in the South.
Source:Businessdailyafrica| Sunday, June 6, 2010

You may not like it but this theatre is coming to a town near you in Sudan.

South Sudan applies to join EAC

Oil-rich South Sudan has requested to join the East African Community (EAC) as businesspersons from the block increasingly target booming trade in the semi-autonomous region. However EAC turned down the request saying only South Sudan was not a sovereign State as it is part of the Sudan.

Uganda’s State Minister for Trade Nelson Wambuzi Gagawala told journalists of the application by the Government of South Sudan (GOSS). EAC, which brings together Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Rwanda, is among Africa’s strongest regional groupings with a combined market of 120 million people.

“Southern Sudan has applied to join the EAC. In fact also Khartoum wants to join,” Gagawala said on Friday :lol:. A Ugandan senior official in charge of East Africa and Great Lakes Region affairs corroborated the minister’s position.

He said: “They (GOSS) actually applied during the April 2007 summit.
However, the Heads of State advised South Sudan to apply when they are a sovereign state (in case they seceded after a referendum),” Kagamba said. With a population of about 14 million people, South Sudan is seeking to secede from the Arab-north in a bid to consolidate black-Christian leadership.

The secession will be decided in the forthcoming referendum. Uganda’s Minister for Regional Cooperation, Isaac Musumba, had earlier voiced a similar position to the press. “We cannot deal with them since South Sudan is not yet a sovereign state.

It is still part of Sudan,” Musumba said. GOSS’s interest in EAC comes at a time when thousands of East African traders are flocking the southern Sudan market that is reported to have extensive unexploited resources.

“I think they want to join the bloc because they mainly trade with East Africa. I do not think there is any other reason. You know they fetch a biggest percentage of their goods through Mombassa. Therefore they need to join the Community so that taxes are lifted,” Kagamba said. To join the EAC, a country must be a neighbour of the bloc, have a common market and have a democratically elected government. According to Musumba, South Sudan has drafted an investment policy to enrich trade with its neighbours.

The investment plan is worth $32 million which they are yet to raise. A number of traders especially Kenyans and Ugandans from around the region have asserted themselves on the South Sudan market especially in petty trade. “Our greatest regional market is Southern Sudan. Our traders are sending more goods to southern Sudan, which is a food basket for the entire country. Southern Sudan has immense potential. It has a huge land mass.
The land is so fertile and very beautiful. For any energetic people, it is the way to go,” Gagawala said...

Article 2007: http://www.rwandagateway.org

http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/news/images/jan10/20102701001.jpg
Also..


Sudan, DRC keen to join EAC Business News

THE Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan could be the next states to become members of the East African Community. Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, the Secretary General of the Eac stated at a press conference here on Monday that Drc and Sudan have expressed interest in boosting the community membership from the current five to seven states.

Mr Mwapachu explained that the joining of both Sudan and Drc could become a reality within the second decade of the regional cooperation set to start with the establishment of common market in January 2010.

“DRC has discovered that it is more inclined towards the East, relying on both Mombasa And Dar es Salaam harbours for its external trade while most of the Sudan’s economic and social deals face south towards Kenya, eventually these two states will become part of EAC,” Mwapachu observed.

The East African Community which set sail on November 30, 1999 with the establishment of the Eac treaty, the... ...
Zimbabwe Press 2009 : http://newzimsituation.com

he is the Oil minister a Ministry that is more important to the South then any other.:nuts:

And what exactly are you going nuts about? Me saying that the minister is a junior SPLM official or the fact that what he said was his opinion and therefore not official position of the SPLM?

Well, the ministries allocated to SPLM in GONU are occupied by "second tier" SPLM officials....and that is a fact. As for what he said....Let just say that, the guy is in no position to decide whether SS should built the new pipeline or not. That call will be made by GOSS.

And oh! Concerning oil ministry, need I remain you that it was allocated to SPLM as per the power sharing accord. But in defiance of CPA, NCP refused to give it up......Now, did that act spark a new conflict or even merely stopped SPLM from participating in GONU? The answer is no of course.

Yes, currently oil is very import to the economy of South. However, South has it priorities and believe it or not.....oil is not topping the list.

simply trying to secure my Countries economic interest, to insure that the South pays its transit fees to the North rather than Kenya.
Even if the South did decide to switch to a port (that is still on the drawing board) it would take years to build the pipeline by that time the South's reserves would have become significantly drawn down, oil production in Sudan peaked in 2007 at 600,000 now it has dropped to 470,000.

Dude, there is absolutely nothing you can do over the internet or anywhere for that matter that can have a bearing on whether South chooses to continue exporting its oil through North or whether to look for an alternative route.....absolutely nothing. And if you think otherwise, then I feel sorry for you.

And what exactly are you going nuts about? Me saying that the minister is a junior SPLM official or the fact that what he said was his opinion and therefore not official position of the SPLM?

Well, the ministries allocated to SPLM in GONU are occupied by "second tier" SPLM officials....and that is a fact. As for what he said....Let just say that, the guy is in no position to decide whether SS should built the new pipeline or not. That call will be made by GOSS.
.

it will take years to build the pipeline, until a new pipe line is built will the south be stuck using Port Sudan yes or no?

Dude, there is absolutely nothing you can do over the internet or anywhere for that matter that can have a bearing on whether South chooses to continue exporting its oil through North or whether to look for an alternative route.....absolutely nothing. And if you think otherwise, then I feel sorry for you.

don't be an idiot you are well aware what I mean, I was simply explaining that my opposition to the Total pipeline is because it effects the economic interests of my Country and has nothing to do with me disliking Kenya.

as i said before,

FUCK HATERS!!!

don't be an idiot you are well aware what I mean, I was simply explaining that my opposition to the Total pipeline is because it effects the economic interests of my Country and has nothing to do with me disliking Kenya.

Your KENYA-HATE-TRAIL is all over the net for all to see. Just argue your points and stop squandering as a pseudo-nationalist for The Sudan.

is this project still on course, is toyota still interested in building it now that there is more need for it

is this project still on course, is toyota still interested in building it now that there is more need for it