Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Will the Chinese-built and Financed Railway in Kenya Be a Success?

CNN posted on 21 May 2019 an in depth story titled "A Legacy of Lunacy Haunts Kenya's Old Railway. Will China's $3.6B Line Be Different? by Jenni Marsh.

The Chinese-built and financed standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi has much to commend it including the fact that it now handles 40 percent of the freight arriving at Mombasa port compared to only 4 percent for Kenya's now defunct narrow gauge railway. But the new line has been plagued by controversy as well as accusations that it has resulted in huge debt to China that Kenya will find difficult to repay. In addition, China now seems unwilling to fund further sections of the standard gauge railway line. Kenya has borrowed a total of $9.8 billion from Beijing as of 2017, which constitutes about 21 percent of its external debt.