| SHARE THIS STORY |
|
Fourteen large firms have expressed interest in
the first stage of the Konza Technology City project set to be carried
out in four phases of five years each.
The local firms setting up at the Sh26 billion project include Safaricom,
Wananchi Online, Kemri, Kari, the University of Nairobi, the Jomo
Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and the Nairobi
Hospital.
Foreign concerns include the fast-growing Chinese
Huawei Technologies, Korea electronics giant Samsung and Telemac of the
US. Research In Motion (RIM) of Canada, the makers of the Black Berry
phone, are also interested according to Information permanent secretary
Bitange Ndemo.
Others are Google, Craft Silicon, Telemax Technology Corporation of Taiwan and Shapoorji Pallonji Group from India.
It is understood that US plane maker Boeing and
courier firm Fedex are being courted to set up operations at the city
where the government is shortly set to invest billions of shillings on
infrastructure. The US corporates pulled out over land acquisition
challenges.
“The 14 are willing to start work immediately,”
said Dr Ndemo during the official launch of the 5,000-acre project by
President Mwai Kibaki at the site 60 kilometres South-East of Nairobi
Wednesday.
Mr Kibaki launched the new integrated city and
expressed the government’s commitment to building basic infrastructure,
including extending the dual carriage road from Athi River, provision of
electricity from a new multipurpose dam and a high-speed railway to the
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The flagship project under the Vision 2030
economic blueprint is set to position Kenya as the Information
Communications and Technology (ICT) powerhouse in eastern Africa.
It will house an international financial centre, a convention centre and light electronic manufacturing plant.
“The techno city, a standard gauge rail and the
Sh200 billion Lapsset project are four flagship projects expected to
drive the Vision 2030,” said James Mwangi, chairman of the Vision 2030
implementation board during the ceremony.
Mr Kibaki challenged the next government to
continue the momentum in building infrastructure projects through
increased investments across the country.
“Think of building the next city and the next road
in the country. Let us invite and encourage investments and to continue
the current rate of development,” he said at the launch.
The city is meant to be part of the Special
Economic Zones that will replace the Export Processing Zones and
hopefully create some 200,000 jobs.
It will be developed under a public/private partnership (PPP)
model with structures in the ICT Park and a 10-kilometre radius being
controlled as will those to be built on Mombasa Road.
The President said planning controls would be strictly enforced across the two districts of Machakos and Makueni.
“We have already put in place the required ICT
infrastructure that includes submarine and terrestrial fibre optic
cables,” he said.
“The project has moved from just an ICT park to a
technology city. This will help converge the planning by various
ministries,” said Patrick Obath, chairman of the Kenya Private Sector
Alliance (Kepsa).
The two-lane carriage way extension from Athi River to Konza is scheduled to start in January 2014 to be completed by 2016.
It will be undertaken in two phases with the first
starting from Athi River to the Machakos turn-off being partly funded
by the World Bank and the next from Machakos turn-off to Konza.
Construction of a standard gauge railway from
Mombasa to Malaba, which incorporates the Nairobi-Konza segment, is also
scheduled also start soon following completion of the feasibility
studies and preliminary designs.
The AfDB has also given Sh16 billion for the
construction of the multipurpose Thwake Dam to supply water and power to
Konza. The Dam will also provide water for irrigation.
The board of the Konza Technopolis Development
Authority, the state firm expected to guide the search for investors and
cash for the tech city, has already been appointed.
It will act as a link between the master developer
and the government. Four directors including building economist Haron
Nyakundi, architects Reuben Mutiso and Emma Miloyo and Rosemary Maundu
sit on the board.
The team was inaugurated last week
with investment banker John Ngumi as chairman. The Information and
Finance permanent secretaries will also be represented in the board.
The team expected to recruit a CEO soon will be in
charge of regulating, monitoring and evaluating the development of the
multi-billion-shilling ICT Park. A master developer to be unveiled in
February will steer the construction.
“We want to become a centre for exporting products
to all parts of the world in order to make progress,” said Kibaki,
adding that the city would be a game-changer in Kenya’s socio-economic
development.
It is expected to spur massive trade and
investment as well as create thousands of employment opportunities for
young Kenyans in the ICT sector. Besides technology companies, it will
also be home to hotels as well as world-class educational and health
institutions.
Business Daily