High cost of land undermines Kenya infrastructure development: World Bank official

The high cost of acquiring land could undermine infrastructure development in Kenya, a World Bank official said on Monday.

Jane Kiringai, a senior economist at the World Bank, said in Nairobi, Kenya that urban centers had the biggest need for modern transport infrastructure but the prohibitive cost of land could derail the fulfillment of that objective.

"Estimates suggest that the cost of land in the (Kenyan) capital city of Nairobi has increased by 535 percent in seven years from 2007 to 2014 due to public demand," Kiringai said during the launch of a report on Kenyan economy by the World Bank.

She said that investment in land unleashed higher returns than either the bond or stock market in Kenya.

She regretted that compensation disputes related to the acquisition of land had also jeopardized the implementation of large infrastructure projects.

"The challenges lead to disputes and delays in project implementation as well as major costs overruns," Kiringai said.

Kenya has been unable to construct electricity transmissions to evacuate power from Olkaria I and IV Geothermal Power Stations due to disputes in land acquisition.

She added the World Bank had urged Kenya to undertake sweeping policy and legislative reforms in order to improve the productivity of public investments.

"The first step is to put in place a system of Public Investment Management which in turn can accelerate the catalytic impact of public investment on economic growth," the senior economist said. Endit