Waziri Mayai Wa Maradhi
Member
- Jan 28, 2026
- 81
- 36
Kenya will on Thursday restart a multi-billion-dollar railway extension that was financed through revenue securitization , reviving a project that has been stalled for over six years after initial lending from Beijing dried up.
2017 saw the completion of the railway's first segment, which connected Nairobi and the port of Mombasa. However, the project stalled close to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, more than 350 kilometres short of reaching the Ugandan border and postponing a planned cross-border link to increase regional connectivity and commerce, after China cut funding for major African infrastructure projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.
Although the Chinese government disputes this, some have claimed that the stalled project has come to represent China's debt trap diplomacy, in which Beijing extends huge, frequently opaque loans to a poorer nation for infrastructure projects.
In order to reduce Nairobi's yearly repayments, Kenya and China renegotiated the terms of the loans used to build the first two phases last year.
Kenya changed its legislation to allow for use of the bulk of a railway development levy charged on cargo carried on the existing line and estimated at 35 billion shillings ($270.27 million) as seed money for the construction of new phases.
The deal has been made possible by an agreement between African leaders and China at a 2024 Beijing summit to focus on investments rather than debt, said analysts.
"Following the heavy propaganda in regard to the debt burden, particularly from the West, China and Africa discussed a new model based on investments to sustain the level of building infrastructure," said Peter Kagwanja, a Nairobi-based international relations expert who specialises in China ties.
President William Ruto's administration has been turning to securitization of some revenue streams to generate cash for infrastructure, since debt repayments gobble up a huge share of its annual revenue, and an attempt to increase taxes led to deadly riots in 2024.
President Ruto will launch the construction at a ceremony near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha later in the day.
Source: Citizen Digital
2017 saw the completion of the railway's first segment, which connected Nairobi and the port of Mombasa. However, the project stalled close to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, more than 350 kilometres short of reaching the Ugandan border and postponing a planned cross-border link to increase regional connectivity and commerce, after China cut funding for major African infrastructure projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.
Although the Chinese government disputes this, some have claimed that the stalled project has come to represent China's debt trap diplomacy, in which Beijing extends huge, frequently opaque loans to a poorer nation for infrastructure projects.
In order to reduce Nairobi's yearly repayments, Kenya and China renegotiated the terms of the loans used to build the first two phases last year.
Kenya changed its legislation to allow for use of the bulk of a railway development levy charged on cargo carried on the existing line and estimated at 35 billion shillings ($270.27 million) as seed money for the construction of new phases.
The deal has been made possible by an agreement between African leaders and China at a 2024 Beijing summit to focus on investments rather than debt, said analysts.
"Following the heavy propaganda in regard to the debt burden, particularly from the West, China and Africa discussed a new model based on investments to sustain the level of building infrastructure," said Peter Kagwanja, a Nairobi-based international relations expert who specialises in China ties.
President William Ruto's administration has been turning to securitization of some revenue streams to generate cash for infrastructure, since debt repayments gobble up a huge share of its annual revenue, and an attempt to increase taxes led to deadly riots in 2024.
President Ruto will launch the construction at a ceremony near the Rift Valley town of Naivasha later in the day.
Source: Citizen Digital
