The Kenyan government signed a new agreement that will extend the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway (SGR) line to Naivasha, a town lies about 120 km northwest of Nairobi. The deal was signed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBR) Chairman Wen Gang and Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina during a Cabinet Steering Committee on SGR meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The China-funded SGR is a Vision 2030 flagship project in Kenya. It will significantly reduce the transportation costs and save time, and have a direct impact on cost of commodities and generally ease cost of doing business. The 472km railway is expected to cut by half the time passengers take to travel from Mombasa to Nairobi from the current eight hours to about four and a half hours. Freight trains will reduce the time it takes to move cargo between the two cities to eight hours.
The extension of the SGR will open up Naivasha, the country’s geothermal production centre, for increased economic activities, especially farming. To attract investors to set up industrial complexes at the specially designated zones near Naivasha’s Olkaria, Kenyatta said during the meeting, that the government will offer them subsidized power tariffs. Firms will also have their power connected directly from power plants in Naivasha to ensure uninterrupted supplies.
Photo: www.standardmedia.co.ke
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