China debt is not bad, what matters is how we spend the money

An SGR train arrives at Mombasa's Miritini terminal. [Maarufu Mohamed,Standard]

As President Uhuru Kenyatta embarked on his journey to Beijing last week, one word was sure to come up in the newspapers and on social media: debt. Specifically, our national debt to China, which makes many quiver and shudder.

Data published a year ago showed China to be our largest lender, and our debt stock had increased by 53 per cent to Sh479 billion in 2017 from Sh313 billion in 2016. Don’t be shocked when the numbers grow even more, following the continued development of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) between Nairobi and Naivasha.