Kenya signs Sh67b deal with China for Konza Project, JKIA expressway

President Uhuru Kenyatta and China’s President Xi Jinping.

President Uhuru Kenyatta Friday witnessed the signing of two project delivery agreements worth Sh67 billion for the Konza Data Centre and Smart Cities Project by telecommunications giant Huawei and the JKIA-James Gichuru expressway.

The Nairobi’s JKIA- James Gichuru expressway will be constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation.

President Uhuru also signed the operation and maintenance service agreement for the Nairobi-Naivasha segment of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The Konza project was conceived in 2017 by the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology and Huawei, and entails the development of core ICT infrastructure which includes National Cloud Data Centre, Smart ICT Network, Public Safe City and Smart Traffic Solution, and Government Cloud and Enterprise Service.

It is part of the Konza Techno City, a Vision 2030 flagship project started in 2008 and is aimed at developing technology-intensive and high-tech industries in ICT, biotechnology and e-commerce. Phase I of the project is estimated to create over 17,000 jobs and contribute an estimated Sh90 billion to the Kenyan economy.

The construction of the JKIA-James Gichuru expressway is expected to ease traffic flow on the busy Mombasa Road which is part of the ongoing interventions by the Government to decongest key roads in Nairobi.

The expressway will be the first of its kind in Africa with unique design features that combine underpasses, overpasses, exits as well as a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) component covering the entire stretch.