Kenya has signed yet another Ksh36 billion credit facility with the Chinese government that will see the completion of 15 roads countrywide, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said.
He said the funds from President Xi Jinping’s administration will be used to complete stalled road infrastructural projects in various counties, a move that will help accelerate development in the country.
Speaking exclusively to People Daily on the sidelines of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Mudavadi said the Chinese administration has agreed to a better way of treating debt in Africa.
“We are going to have a credit facility from the Chinese government of Sh36 billion to complete the stalled road projects in various regions. The African Heads of State have appealed to Chinese administration to look for better ways of treating the debt,” said Mudavadi.
Mudavadi who is also the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary said that of the Sh6.2 trillion grant by Jinping, Kenya will prioritise infrastructure, agriculture and digital economy to spur growth and development in the country.
This is after Jinping announced a Sh6.2 trillion worth of grants to 53 African counties with some 33 Least Developed Counties (LDCs) being exempted from paying tariffs on the goods they export to the Chinese market.
Mudavadi said the China-Kenya cooperation will see the construction of a dual carriage way of the Limuru-Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road, adding that the government plans to extend the railway Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha-Malaba.
It is estimated that the construction of SGR from Naivasha to Malaba will cost a staggering Sh720 billion and will reduce the cost of transportation of cargo.
“The construction the Limuru-Mau Summit road into dual carriage and the extension of SGR from Naivasha should not be seen as a Kenyan project but as a project of the Belt and Road Initiative,” said Mudavadi.
He said there will be a multiplier effect along the 15 roads to be completed and further creation of jobs and business opportunities along the extended SGR line and dualling of Limuru-Mau Summit road.
He explained that the construction of the two key infrastructural projects will reduce transportation cost, open the corridor for more business and will also create an atmosphere of laying of the fibre optic cable, a move that will create employment in the digital economy.
Yesterday before the Prime Cabinet Secretary left Beijing for Nairobi, he was categorical that the Kenya will benefit immensely from the Chinese grants.
“The Kenya-China cooperation has seen at least more than 200,000 Chinese nationals visiting the country as tourists while a number of them have also started up business ventures. We appreciate China as a strategic partner,” he said.’
Mudavadi said Kenya will soon benefit from credit facilities from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at an affordable and concessionary.
According to Mudavadi, AIIB, which is a multilateral development bank and international financial institution alongside China and other donor funding agencies, can put funds in the African Development Bank for LDCs and other African nations to access credit facilities at affordable rates.
He said although Kenya is regarded as a middle economy, raising capital from AIIB will support the budget and make funding accessible.
“Kenya is a middle-income economy and is the most liberalised market in the world. Its shillings is convertible and there are no restrictions in exchange. Kenya is a financial hub in East and Central Africa. This allows investors a more liberal way for investment,” said Mudavadi.
“This means that any investor can come with his money invest and take his money to any other place he deems fit.”
