China has pledged to boost the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway construction project in Kenya from the capital Nairobi to the Rift Valley. Kenya will receive a $1.5 billion loan from China
Statehouse Spokesman Manoah Esipisu confirmed the news and said Kenya will finance 15% towards the project, with 85% from China Eximbank.
The rail is projected to be extended to Naivasha and will offer access to an industrial park to be built to accommodate manufacturing firms wishing to use power from the nearby geothermal steam fields being developed.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Forum for China-Africa Co-operation, held recently in Johannesburg.
Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project remains the single largest investment in the country’s economy in the last five decades.
Apart from the above deal, Kenya Railways and China Communications Construction Company Ltd have also signed a pact to carry out feasibility studies and initial designs for the second leg of the Mombasa-Nairobi line, which will stretch to Malaba on Kenya’s border with Uganda.
China Eximbank is one of three institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, diplomacy, economy, and provide policy financial support to promote the export of Chinese products and services.
