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- Kenya Railways Project Begins
- Construction of Sahara Ridge Along Thika Super Highway Has Kicked Off
- Kenya: Sh60 Million Set Aside to Repair Naivasha Roads
- Bharti Airtel Announces Agreement With IBM For Comprehensive IT Solutions to Employees Across 16 African Countries
- GKenya Airways spreads wings, fast challenging SAA
Nairobi is a national, regional and international strategic centre for education, commerce, transport, regional cooperation and economic development. It also connects the Eastern, Central and Southern African countries. As such a booming regional centre, it might be a good idea for interested investors to get a mortgage out here and settle in for the ride. The coming years hold promise and action. The following areas of investment have been identified towards sustainable economic growth and development as envisioned in the metro 2030 strategy.
1. Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transit Programme To improve accessibility within the metropolitan region through a new bus system with designated bus lanes. This will require investments in infrastructure and buses. The bus rapid transit system will start with three transport corridors; Athi River town to Kikuyu town, Thika to the central business district (CBD) and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the CBD.
2. Rapid light rail This will entail provision of light rail to ease traffic congestion and improve efficiency of transportation between the CBD and other parts of the metropolitan area including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport; a distance of 15.6 kilometres and serving about 150,000 passengers daily.
3. Provision of non-motorised transportation Investment to help decongest traffic within the metro CBD is required and this will involve: integrated traffic management systems, pedestrianisation of city streets, provision of non-motorised transportation and the installation of street lights in the metro local authorities and all major urban centres.
4. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) CCTV has in the last few years proved to be a very effective device in both deterring criminals and arresting perpetrators of crime in many developed countries. In Kenya, as envisioned in the Vision 2030, all the major cities are preparing to become 24 hour operational centres. There is need to install surveillance cameras to enhance security in these cities. The government in collaboration with the private sector and the city council of Nairobi has already installed surveillance cameras in some parts of Nairobi streets as a pilot project. This will help improve efficiency on safety and security and reduce the cost of policing in the metropolitan area. In addition there will be an extension of the CCTV infrastructure and services to cover other major commercial hubs including Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru.
5. Parking system Investment opportunities exist in the provision of both space and technology that complements promotion of public transport. This require provision of vehicle parking services and development and management of a multi-storey parking in designated places of the CBD and other outlying commercial hubs. Land has already been identified in potential areas for the development of the parks.
6. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Planning and Mapping of the Metropolitan Region Technical assistance is needed in institutionalising GIS-based spatial planning and management at the ministry level and the metropolitan local authorities, particularly Nairobi.
Source: tradeinvestkenya.com
Kenya Railways Project Begins
May 25 2011
Kenya Railways Corporation has begun construction of the Syokimau Railway Station - the first railway under the Sh24 billion Nairobi Commuter Rail Project - that will see electric-powered commuter trains debuted on the route as part of efforts to decongest Nairobi City.
The station will be one of ten stations that KRC will construct within Nairobi in preparation for public-private sector partnerships to provide railway wagons and management skills to run the outfit.
"We are providing the infrastructure and plan to invite the private sector to provide the new train sets and operational expertise," said Nduva Muli, the Managing Director of Kenya Railways.
The move comes just a week after KRC advertised tenders for the construction of four additional new railways stations, which are set to begin in July, and will be rolled out by 2013.
KRC plans to build ten new stations in the first phase of the project, plus a six-kilometre new line that will link the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the commuter rail system in phase two of the project.
The new stations will be built in an ‘intermodal’ concept, which allows for synergy with public service vehicles to drop-off and pick commuters who use the rail transport system.
The planned first four new stations will be in Makadara, Imara Daima, Nairobi Central Railway Station along, and the Syokimau Spur.
Some of the new stations will also host car parks that can accommodate at least 500 vehicles to allow commuters to use their vehicles to drive to the railway station, and use the railway line to get into the town. The planned commuter trains is planned to have frequency of 15 minutes of pick-up from very station.
Although Rift Valley Railways (RVR) has a five-year monopoly of commuter train services in Nairobi following the concession, KRC and RVR have worked out modalities of infrastructure improvement and sharing.
The Government is financing upgrade of the infrastructure; through concession money paid by the RVR, and planned issuance of a specific infrastructure bond. KRC said it is working with a donor funded consultancy group InfraCo to develop the Nairobi Commuter Rail Project.
The whole project will see approximately 160 km of the existing rail system within Nairobi rehabilitated, and a 6km track to the JKIA constructed.
Construction of Sahara Ridge Along Thika Super Highway Has Kicked Off
29 June 2011
A new development is coming up at Ruiru with the developer now embarking on the main phase of house construction. Site contractors Govar Builders have completed putting up the boundary wall around the 2.5-acre piece of land where the planned housing units sits. Project managers Limojade Management say the development has a build time of 12 months and the houses are therefore expected to be ready for occupation by July 2012.
Limojade managing director Jimmy Kamotho says the development is the first to be put up along the Thika Superhighway. It is located about 22 kilometres from Nairobi, a 15-minute drive, and three kilometres from the intersection of the Nothern and Eastern by-passes. The multi-million shilling development stands next to the Nairobi Institute of Business (NIBs) and the GSU base camp in Ruiru, which the developers, Jelimar Developers Ltd, say guarantees security for buyers.
The provisional price of the 38 units of maisonettes is Sh7.95 million for each of the houses but the project managers say they foresee a price rise by over Sh2 million by time of completion. This, they say, is informed by the development's location along the superhighway which makes it prime both for commute and home officing.
Land prices in the area have more than quadrupled along Thika road since the expansion plan began. "The houses are a good buy for both owner-occupier and as an investment plan because the value is bound to appreciate," said Mr Kamotho, adding that Sahara Ridge is offering a lifestyle to the residents which will be enhanced by the numerous shopping centres coming up.
Targeting the middle income market, the development also hinges itself on expected growth in Nairobi's peripheral which will significant capital appreciation and high rental yields. Each of the three bedroom houses sits on a space of 25m X 7.5m, with two parking lots.
Most of the units have been sold off-plan, attracting a mixed set of local buyers. HassConsult are the sole selling agents for the development.
A recent report by the firm on Nairobi's property market showed that demand for houses is rising compared to waning demand for high density developments such as apartments, which may force a downward price revision.
Kenya: Sh60 Million Set Aside to Repair Naivasha Roads
12 July 2011
The ministry of roads will spend over Sh60 million in rehabilitating roads in Naivasha constituency. Already Sh38 million has been spent repairing 278km of road, opening up some areas that for years have lagged behind in development. In a joint effort between National Youth Service, Naivasha CDF and Kenya Rural Roads Authority all major roads in the constituency will be redone.
According to the chairman Naivasha constituency roads committee Henry Kambo, Sh38 million was spent in the last financial year. He said that a further Sh24 million will be used this year and all major roads in the constituency will benefit from the programme. "Unlike other constituencies, we have decided to use NYS officers and their equipment as they cheaper and more efficient as compared to other contractors," he said.
Bharti Airtel Announces Agreement With IBM For Comprehensive IT Solutions to Employees Across 16 African Countries
11 October 2010 | By Jevans
NAIROBI, Kenya and ARMONK, N.Y., July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today jointly announced a 10-year agreement to provide comprehensive IT solutions to its employees across 16 African countries. In terms of the agreement, IBM will provide a standard operating environment, ‘help desk’ and ‘desk side’ support to enhance employee efficiency and convenience. Today’s announcement builds on a strategic partnership signed in late 2010 to manage the computing technology and services to power Airtel’s mobile communications network spanning 16 African countries.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO)
In terms of the new agreement, IBM will provide comprehensive end user services to Airtel employees across Africa, in French and English. The consolidation of Airtel’s helpdesks, is expected to bring greater cost savings and efficiencies by streamlining the processes of addressing IT operational issues. It will also include an enhanced information enterprise security solution that further strengthens Airtel’s commitment to customer data privacy.
IBM will also be responsible for the implementation and maintenance of a standard operating environment, using state of the art platforms, tools and management processes.
Manoj Kohli, Chief Executive Officer (International) & Joint Managing Director,Bharti Airtel said, “This agreement enables us to provide the best IT capabilities to our employees with a focus of making innovative mobile solutions available acrossAfrica. IBM will introduce best practices based on their global experience in various sectors. This will help us to focus on delivering innovative products & services and providing a better customer experience.”
Airtel and IBM’s relationship began in 2004 when South Asia‘s leading mobile communications provider selected IBM to run IT and applications for its entire network in India. Since then, Airtel has seen explosive growth from six million customers to more than 225 million today. Airtel currently has over 44 million customers across 16 African operations and is targeting 100 million by 2015.
“This latest agreement will bring enhanced efficiencies to benefit customers, employees and business partners of Bharti Airtel,” said Bruno Di Leo, IBM General Manager, Growth Markets. “IBM becomes the single partner to Airtel, providing end user services as well as consolidating and transforming the different IT environments across Airtel’s African operations into an integrated system, overseeing the management of all applications, data center operations, servers, storage and desktop services. The seamless end-to-end service will enable Airtel to offer a superior customer experience across Africa.”
The agreement with Airtel highlights IBM’s continued geographic expansion initiative to strategically increase its presence in key growth markets and support its global growth strategy. IBM is ramping up its investment in Africa and has a direct presence in over 20 African countries including South Africa, Ghana,Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. In recent weeks, the company has announced its expansion into both Senegal and Tanzania
Kenya Airways spreads wings, fast challenging SAA
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by PAMELA WANJIGU in Nairobi, Kenya
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Presently, the leading African airlines are South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise.