Chinese President Xi Jinping has agreed to finance the construction of Kenyan roads and railways including the rebuilding of a notorious accident black spot.
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Xi made the pledge when he welcomed his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto to Beijing on Thursday and also promised to support “high-level connectivity, and sustainable trade”.
The funding he pledged will include work to rebuild the Nithi Bridge in central Kenya, a notorious deathtrap that has claimed hundreds of lives since its commissioning four decades ago. The plan involves the building of a viaduct that will remove the steep descents and sharp corners that make the bridge so dangerous.
Kenya is a key partner for China’s Belt and Road Initiative – a transcontinental infrastructure project – that has already helped build a rail link between Mombasa, Nairobi and the Central Rift Valley at a cost of around US$5 billion.
Work on the railway was halted in 2019 after China Exim Bank pulled out due to concerns over debt sustainability, repayment risk and the project’s viability, but Nairobi has now secured an agreement to resume work on a new extension to the railway and a motorway linking the Rift Valley and the west of the country.
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These projects are among 20 deals Kenya secured from China, covering infrastructure, trade, education, and the digital economy.