Kenya set to host int'l conference on road research

More than 300 senior researchers and policy markers including stakeholders are due to meet in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa from Tuesday to seek ways of improving research on transport, organizers said on Sunday.

A statement from the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) said the three-day International Conference on Transport and Road Research (iTRARR) will bring participants from Africa and South East Asian regions.

"It brings together over 300 key players in road infrastructure provision including top researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders in transport from the Sub-Sahara Africa and South East Asia regions," the statement said.

The objective is to improve the coordination of transport and related research through sharing of experience and best practice to develop appropriate and standardized solutions for the region.

The conference comes as the Kenya has stepped up construction of 10,000 km road network which it said will be spread out in three phases.

The government has also developed policy and legislative tools to strengthen public private partnerships in development of new roads.

The East African nation also aims to apply the public private sector financing model to other strategic sectors like mining and energy.

The government will be seeking funding from banks and other private financiers under a new annuity model and will not depend on State funding.

It said the model not only allows faster completion of the projects but will see more flexibility in terms of payments of the loans by the government. Endit