The government will provide Sh300 million for building a waterfront in Kisumu.
Tourism CS Najib Balala on Monday said they will help the lakeside county to boost tourism in the Western Kenya circuit.
The waterfront will be ready by 2021 when Kisumu will host Africities — a triennial pan-African summit that focuses on the construction of the 2063 Vision of Africa.
Balala said a planning team to work with the county government has been set up. It will come up with ideas on how best the project can take off.
“We want to improve in product development in the Lake region and the Western part in the Safari circuit.”
He said the lake is an important natural resource to promote domestic and international tourism. Kisumu can be another Mombasa if the domestic tourism within the county can boom, he said.
The county has attractive tourist sites, which, if well developed, packaged and marketed, will open up the region for more opportunities.
The government is in the process of modernising scenic waterfront locations in key tourist sites and commercial towns, as it seeks to increase the number of tourists.
“We need to have floating restaurants, cruise liners, and how people can move through water from Kisumu to other ports around Lake Victoria,” the CS said.
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko said they are committed to eliminating hyacinth from Lake Victoria. He warned factories and residents against polluting water bodies.
