Kenya has launched a $13.8bn railway project linking the port city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi and is eventually hoped to extend onwards to neighbouring Uganda. According to AFP news agency, this will will also connect with proposed lines to Rwanda and South Sudan.
The project, called a “historic milestone” by President Uhuru Kenyatta, is being built by a Chinese state-owned firm and with funds from the Chinese government. It is expected that the railway line will dramatically increase trade and boost Kenya’s position as a regional economic powerhouse.
“What we are doing here today will most definitely transform… not only Kenya but the whole eastern African region,” Kenyatta told crowds at the ceremony, which was attended by Chinese officials.
“As a result east Africa will become a competitive investment destination. A busy growing east Africa is good for us as a country.”
The new railway line will replace the dilapidated British colonial-era railway, and has been hailed by the Kenyan media as the region’s largest infrastructure project for a century.
“Kenya is stepping forward…it will be a landmark project both for Kenya and east Africa,” said Liu Guangyuan, China’s ambassador to Kenya.
