XPost: soc.culture.african

Kenya Just Opened a $4 Billion Chinese-Built Railway, its Largest Infrastructure Project in 50 Years

By Conor Gaffey On 5/31/17 at 11:54 AM

Kenya has just opened its largest infrastructure project in over 50 years—with a little help from some Chinese friends.

Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan president, announced Wednesday the
completion of the first stage of a major railway connecting the
capital Nairobi and the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa.

The line marks Kenya’s largest infrastructure project since
independence from British colonialists in 1964. It is also part of a
wider project that shows the depth of Chinese investment and influence
in Africa, at a time when the United States appears to be losing its
sway on the continent.

Here’s five facts about the new railway.

The $3.8 billion, 298-mile stretch of railway is the work of the China
Road and Bridge Corporation, a state-owned enterprise that build on
Beijing’s behalf in Africa. The Chinese began building the line in
December 2014 and completed the first section, the Nairobi-Mombasa
line, 18 months early.

The line is further evidence of China’s deep reach within Africa and
follows closely after a $4.2 billion, 470-mile railway linking the
Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with Djibouti, a port country on the Red
Sea, was opened in January. In Kenya alone, imports from China grew to
$5 billion in 2016—a threefold increase since 2010—compared to $780
million from the United States, the Financial Times reported.
2. It’s part of a planned seven-country rail network

The Nairobi-Mombasa line is just the first instalment in the
Chinese-funded project to improve rail links in East Africa. The line
is planned to extend westward from Kenya and into Uganda, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, and northward into South Sudan
and Ethiopia.

3. It will cut journey time in half and is cheaper than a bus

Before the new railway opened, the quickest way to get from Mombasa to
Nairobi without the expense of flying was a grueling nine-hour bus
journey; the old railway takes 12 hours to complete the journey. The
new standard-gauge railway is predicted to cut that journey time down
to four-and-a-half hours. President Kenyatta also ordered the
state-owned railway company to charge no more than 700 Kenyan
shillings ($6.77) for an economy-class ticket. That makes the journey
cheaper than a bus ride, which costs at least 1,200 shillings
($11.61).

4. It’s named after Kenya’s independence day

For decades, Kenyans wanting to travel by rail from Mombasa to Nairobi
were forced to use the so-called Lunatic Express: the British-built
railway line, constructed in the 19th century and so named because the
building process claimed many lives and much investment. But Kenyatta
announced that the new railway would be named the Madaraka Express.
Madaraka, a Swahili word meaning responsibility or power, is also the
name of Kenya’s independence day, celebrated on June 1 each year.

5. Railway vandals may be executed

Coming just months before an August general election, the railway is
evidently a source of pride and political capital for President
Kenyatta. And the Kenyan head of state is so determined to keep it
that way, he has threatened to introduce a new law sanctioning people
who vandalize the railway with the death penalty. “I want to firmly
state today that those who will be prosecuted and found guilty of
vandalizing a property belonging to all Kenyans; a property
belong[ing] to our children, forgive me God, I will sign their death
sentence for them to be hanged,” said Kenyatta at the launch, Kenya’s Citizen TV reported.

Source:
http://www.newsweek.com/kenya-railway-china-madaraka-express-618357
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