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Cash crisis hampers development of Kenya's first smart city

Xinhua, January 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's proposed first techno city is facing financial crisis that is curtailing its development, officials said on Tuesday.

John Ngumi, Chairman of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTDA), which is overseeing the Konza Techno City project, said a restricted financial base was hampering ability to take the scheme to the next level.

"The current development budget the project was allocated in the financial year 2014/2015 cannot enable us to deliver the achievements which typically would require a much larger amount of funding," Ngumi told journalists in Nairobi.

For the financial year 2014/2015, KOTDA recurrent budget is 480, 000 U.S. dollars though its development budget stands at 10 million dollars.

Ngumi said the government is aware of the need to augment resources, adding that KOTDA has high hopes for positive change to this picture.

Kenya intends to spend a reported 14.5 billion dollars on the creation of the smart city or "Silicon Savanna," which the Kenyan authorities hope will become Africa's answer to Silicon Valley.

Through the Technology City, the country will become a global leader in the field of ICT, housing Kenya's International Financial Center, a world class convention center and a light electronic manufacturing center.

The project's phase will be implemented side by side with infrastructure development that is estimated to cost 300 million U. S. dollars and which is ongoing at the 5,000-acre land in Konza, a town located 160 kilometers south of the capital city Nairobi. It includes setting up of a hospital, a science park and a technology university among other amenities.

The ambitious venture will see the construction of a brand new city measuring on an area of 20 squire kilometers which is currently natural savanna.

Currently, the plan is for a compact city with a distinct semi- circular footprint within a triangular area of grassland.

KOTDA CEO Catherine Adeya-Weya said the project is considered an integral part of Kenya's Vision 2030 as it seeks to leverage and expand technology and other knowledge-based sectors, adding that it is expected to contribute at least 120 million dollars to the GDP.

"The financial crunch is hampering the Authority from attracting the capable expertise to take the project to the next level because the figures they are asking for is astronomical," Adeya-Weya said. Endi