Kenya and China have signed project delivery agreements worth$2.23 billion for a technology city and an expressway.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is in China for the second Belt and Road forum, witnessed the signing of the deals.
The deals will be fulfilled through concessional financing and Public Private-Partnership (PPP).
The Konza Data Centre and Smart Cities deal is worth $1.72 billion while the JKIA-James Gichuru expressway project is worth Sh51 billion.
Also signed was the operation and maintenance service agreement for the Nairobi-Naivasha segment of the standard gauge railway (SGR).
The Konza project —situated about 80km south east of the capital Nairobi— was conceived in 2017 by the ICT ministry and telecommunications giant Huawei.
It entails the development of core infrastructure including a National Cloud Data Centre, Smart ICT Network, Public Safe City and Smart Traffic Solution, and a Government Cloud and Enterprise Service.
Related Content
It is part of the Konza Techno City, a Vision 2030 flagship project started in 2008 and aimed at developing technology-intensive and high-tech industries in ICT, biotechnology and e-commerce.
It is estimated that Phase I of the project will create over 17,000 jobs and contribute Ksh90 billion ($900 million) 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.
More
