Wycliffe Nyamasege
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday signed project delivery agreements worth Sh67.5 billion for the Konza Data Centre and Smart Cities Project by telecommunications giant Huawei and the JKIA-James Gichuru expressway.
The deal will be fulfilled through concessional financing and Public Private-Partnership (PPP).
According to the President’s Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU), the Konza project deal is worth Sh17.5 billion while the expressway project, by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, is worth Sh50 billion.
The president, who is in China for the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum, also signed the operation and maintenance service agreement for the Nairobi-Naivasha segment of the standard gauge railway (SGR).
The Konza project, which is part of the vision 2030 flagship, was conceived in 2017 by the ministry of ICT and Huawei.
It entails the development of core infrastructure including a National Cloud Data Centre, a Smart ICT Network, a Public Safe City and Smart Traffic Solution, and a Government Cloud and Enterprise Service.
It is estimated that Phase I of the project is estimated will create over 17,000 jobs and contribute Sh90 billion to the Kenyan economy.
The construction of the expressway is expected to ease traffic flow on the busy Mombasa highway as part of government interventions to decongest key roads in Nairobi.
On Thursday, the Chinese government approved exportation of Kenya avocado to the Asian expansive market.
Read: Raw Deal? President Kenyatta Secures Avocado Exportation Deal With China
The deal makes Kenya the first African nation to export the produce to the Asian market.
According to the government statement, once the agreement is fully implemented the Chinese market is expected to absorb over 40 percent of the country’s avocado produce.
It becomes Kenya’s largest second export in the horticultural sector after stevia.
Also in China is opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had earlier indicated that Kenya is in the process of securing a Sh368 billion from China for further development of the standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Odinga indicated that the loan will help revive the Kisumu inland port which for a long while now it had been dormant due to the dilapidated railway.
“The new SGR line will extend from Naivasha to Narok, Bomet, Sondu and finally Kisumu,” he said.
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