$13 billion China-funded railway in Kenya to boost business, tourism

Kenya Railway said a China-funded railway connecting the Kenyan capital with a key port would bring a wide range of benefits to the country.

Managing Director of Kenya Railways, Atanas K. Maina made this known during a recent interview with China Global Television Network.

He noted that the project would help boost local people’s livelihood.

“For our country, it is a big deal that we have such a project. We’ve for the last 30 years been struggling with projects of this magnitude. Every two years, we have to keep redoing our roads. The cost of doing business, the cost of movement between Mombasa and Nairobi.The accidents we’ve had on those roads have been enormous,” he said.

He said that the project funded by Chinese construction company CRBC has helped to create jobs for Kenyans, and that more African young people can learn from the skills and technical training partnerships between Kenya and China.

“We can say without a doubt that in the last three years, a lot of Kenyans have been able to acquire skills. For the time that CRBC have been in Kenya, the bulk of their workforce, over 90% are locals. We believe that even when you go into operations and maintenance, we are working with CRBC. They will be able to hire a lot of locals who have acquired skills during construction and those who already have skills from other sectors within the economy,” he said.

According to Maina, with the facility, people will be able to move from Mombasa, through to Nairobi, and go to the national parks, tour, and then move on to other locations.

The new railway is also expected to benefit tourists and boost business in the region.