Kenya is seeking an additional Sh370 billion ($3.59 billion) Chinese loan to extend the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu, pushing the total cost of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pet project to Sh847 billion.

The President today led the Kenyan delegation in making a formal request for additional funds from China Exim Bank.

The money will finance the construction of the third phase of the SGR, a 270km-line between Naivasha and Kisumu.

“The funding request will undergo normal procedure of approval and Premier Li (Keqiang) has promised to give it the adequate consideration and urgency it deserves,” State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu told reporters in Beijing, where the President has been attending a trade conference.

NATION IN DEBT

So far, Sh327 billion has been spent on the first phase between Mombasa and Nairobi and Sh150 on the Nairobi-Naivasha section.

With a national population of about 46 million, every Kenyan is set to owe China Sh18,413 in SGR debt once the deal is sealed.

The money does not include the interest charged.

The additional funding implies that each kilometre of the third phase of SGR will cost Sh1.37 billion, almost twice the Sh693 million per kilometre rate for the Mombasa-Nairobi line.

The Nairobi-Naivasha line will cost more, at about Sh1.5 billion per kilometre.

Source: EABizInfo.com

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