BUSINESS: Chinese company to complete cross-Kenya railway by Billwydad Wangai

Fast train lane concept

A major Chinese company has won contracts to complete a rail link running across Kenya－a major project expected to boost connections in East Africa. China Communications Construction Co has signed a framework agreement with the Kenyan government to build two more sections of the Mombasa-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway.

In September, the company won a contract worth US$1.48 billion (S$2 billion) to extend the Mombasa-Nairobi line by 120 kilometers to Naivasha, a stop between Nairobi, the capital, and Malaba.

Earlier this month, it signed a framework deal to build the remaining section linking Naivasha and Malaba. The cost of this project has not been announced.

The company’s subsidiary, China Road and Bridge Corp, is building a railway connecting Mombasa with Nairobi at a cost of US$3.8 billion, which is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The 960-km Mombasa-Malaba railway is expected to significantly boost economic growth, regional integration and industrialization.

The latest contract for the Nairobi-Malaba railway went to the Chinese company after President Xi Jinping announced aid and loans worth $60 billion for Africa to help the continent address its top three problems－infrastructure, talent and funding.

Liu Qitao, chairman of China Communications Construction Co, said it secured contracts worth US$5 billion and loans for them during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Johannesburg last week.

The projects include railway and hydropower stations. Liu said the company is still seeking finance for contracts worth another US$5 billion.

When completed, the Nairobi-Malaba railway will be linked to others in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, forming an East African network, the company said.

The Nairobi-Malaba section will improve transportation in northern Kenya and reduce the cost of cross-border travel, it said.