East Africa Economic Report

The  Addis-Mombasa -Nairobi Road Map KENYA AND ETHIOPIAN governments deserve to be fried on a rock in Chalbi desert. You see, for decades, the two neighbouring countries have been isolated due to lack of a reliable road link. The cost of doing business was exorbitant hence there was little or no business between the countries. However, now that they have seen the light, they should be forgiven and supported. The two governments have jointly secured a UD$360 million loan from the African Development Bank, AfDB, for the Construction of a 320KM road linking the two countries. This is the third phase of a series of projects to upgrade to Bitumen standard sections of the 1003 KM road linking Ethiopia to Kenya ’s port city of Mombasa . The road, expected to be completed in 2017, will pave the way to a US$1bn million a year market. Trade between Kenya and Ethiopia , neighbouring countries without road link, is pretty low.  Data available shows that the volume of trade...

A Kenya Airways plane : The airline's hub is JKIA THE KENYA AIRPORTS AUTHORITY , KAA, has awarded a $640million contract for the development of a green field terminal at Jomo Kenyatta international Airport, Nairobi . The terminal will be developed on a design, built .finance, operate and Transfer basis. At the same time, the authority has entered into negotiations with a consortium of foreign banks for a concessional financing deal for the project. The financing deal is meant to “protect KAA’s interests.” This means that contractor cannot just accept any interest rate from his financiers, but will have to negotiate a financing deal acceptable to KAA. Alternative he will have to accept the financing negotiated by KAA. Details of who was awarded the contract and the financing deal are still confidential as they have not been signed yet. Nor have the necessary governmental approvals been received by the time of publishing this piece.. The Greenfield terminal to b...

A Geothermal Plant  KENYA IS FAST WEANING itself of dependence from hydro-generated electricity to other sources of renewable energy such as wind and geothermal. The shift, which has been in the making for a long time has picked up pace and, in a decade or so, hydro will be an insignificant source of electric generation. Currently, hydro is the leading source generating a 766.88MW which forms 65 per cent of the KenGen’s installed capacity. KenGen is the power generating utility. Kenya ’s generating capacity of 1400MW serves only 14 per cent of the Population. And the power is expensive. However, the power generating company has firmly shifted its guns and is now targeting renewable sources of energy. It is now focused on developing geothermal and wind power as alternatives sources.  A wind Power In its current development programme which ends in 2016, the company will increase its power generating capacity by an additional 1832 MW by 2016.  Of these, ...

An artist's  impression of the the ultra Modern CBD at night   Welcome to Africa's Silicon Savannah KENYA IS REARING TO roll-out a technology city. The city, arguably the first of its kind in Africa, will be located just 60Km South west of Nairobi , at Konza in Machakos country. Dubbed the silicon Savannah of Africa, Konza ICT City is a green field project that will be home of Africa's Computerisation drive–something similar to Silicon Valley in the US. This is why it is called the Silicon Savannah. It will enable Kenya to compete neck on neck with global giants in BPO, KPO and ITOs including India and China .  On the African continent, Kenya will compete with South Africa and Egypt .  Being the first in the East Africa commom Market bloc, the city is likely to be the regional Computerisation hub. So far, the project is progressing well. The government has already bought 2000 hectares to build the city and lay out plans are in plans are in pl...

The Lamu- Juba railway Line THE GOVERNMENT OF Kenya will in February 2012 conduct a ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the Lamu port. The project is not just a port but series of infrastructure projects in which the Lamu port situated on Indian Ocean is a key component. The Lamu corridor is a transport and infrastructure project in Kenya that when complete will be the country's second transport corridor. Kenya 's other transport corridor is the Mombasa port and Mombasa - Uganda transport corridor that passes through Nairobi and much of the Northern Rift. Since it will link Kenya to South Sudan and Ethiopia , the project is known as the Lamu Port and Lamu Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET)  Other projects in the series include a high speed railway line Linking South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Indian Ocean Port , a road network linking the same destinations, an oil refinery, oil pipeline, three airports ...