Influence of Construction of Lapsset Corridor Road on Performance of Retail Traders in Isiolo Town, Kenya

Abstract

The absence of a structured transport system leads to serious hindrance in economic development of any Country in Africa and beyond. The main roads traversing Isiolo County are in poor physical conditions and therefore failure to improve the road status hampers realization of full potential in economic development of the Isiolo town. LAPSSET Corridor road is very key for the economic development of Isiolo Town and therefore its influence on retail business as one of the key economic activities in Isiolo town needed to be investigated. The study is was intended to investigate the influence of LAPSSET Corridor road on performance of retail traders in Isiolo town. Four objectives guided the study which include: to examine the influence of access to LAPSSET Corridor road on performance of retail traders in Isiolo Town, to establish the extent to which transportation time along LAPSSET corridor road influences performance of retail traders in Isiolo Town, to assess the influence of transportation cost along LAPSSET corridor road on performance of retail traders in Isiolo Town, to assess the extent to which business houses’ rent charge due to LAPSSET corridor road influences performance of retail traders in Isiolo Town. The indicators of the first objective are LAPSSET corridor road connectivity and distance to LAPSSET corridor road which are measured in terms of rate of road connection and distance taken to reach destinations. The second objective also touched on traffic congestion rate of which an indicator of time taken to reach destinations was measured accordingly. The third objective explored transport fare and hire charges as an indicator of transportation cost along LAPSSET corridor road. The fourth objective also was intended to assess the monthly rent and rates charges of which the retailers were expected to pay and these conditions influence the retail business performance. Literature was reviewed according to the objectives of the study. The study employed descriptive survey method as a research design. The target population was 740 Isiolo Retail traders and 28 staffs from the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority. Data Collection Instruments that were used include: questionnaires and interview schedule. The researcher used SPSS to analyze data. The study had a questionnaire return rate of 97.30% which was considered adequate for the study. The study established that over 83% of the respondents had lived in the area for over 10 years with the respondents having high level of education of which 91.70% of the respondents had secondary education and above. The study found out that 93.1% of the respondents frequently use the LAPSSET Corridor road and 95.8% of respondents concluded that LAPSSET Corridor road influences performance of retail traders in terms of revenue generation whereby 84.7% indicated that the road has led to profit increment up to 11% and above. The study recommended development of Isiolo County Spatial Plan, Integrated Transport Infrastructure Master Plan and Investment Framework for Isiolo town to promote retail trade. The study further recommended retail business house rent regulations and construction of access roads and railway lines and the right choice of county based leaders to promote retail business.