Whenever a discussion
on development and aid in Kenya comes up, it is highly unlikely that China will
not feature. Analysts find it important to compare what China has done in
relation to what other development partners have to offer. Despite the obvious grounds and motivation for this
association, sophists tend to put China’s role and activities under the
critical lens; however, in the face of differing views being projected by
diverging interests, it is not difficult to weigh up and establish China’s
critical role as the evidence is there for everyone to see.
Before
China’s engagement with Kenya, traditional donors dispensed aid with political
strings attached and conditions. Today, China gives unconditional aid not in
form of money, but in form of infrastructural and social development that every
Kenyan can see and feel. We are no longer talking about white elephants but
grand projects never seen before in the country. This has not shielded Chinese
aid from criticism based on historical experiences of aid money.
China
gives us cheap and long term loans which reduce the pressure to pay, enabling
the country achieve its development objectives. This too is being seen in terms
of increasing our debt burden, forgetting that these are the same loans that
Kenya and other African countries begged from the Brettonwoods institutions to
fund our much needed infrastructural development.
A
decade of engagement has helped Africa to develop and grow African economies by
20%, which more than 500 years of trade with the west could not. Kenya’ fast
economic growth in recent years has been attributed to improved trade with and
infrastructure development with China. China’s charm has been its ability to
listen and consult on what is best for Kenya’s self development. During his
trip in China, President Kenyatta asked for even greater cooperation with China
to drive our most pressing needs. Discussions on new areas of investment mainly
in infrastructure, energy and technology transfer were fruitful leading to the
signing of agreements worth Sh425 billion with China.
This is
the necessary capital that a country like Kenya needs to spur its economic
growth. Just like in business, no country can invest big without sufficient
capital and this is the path that developing countries like Kenya have to take.
When the Asian giants were poor, they went through the same development path
and they are now servicing their debts with ease. Having undergone the same
process, China understands this concept hence its willingness to risk giving us
such huge amounts of money as investment at very cheap interest rates compared
to traditional lenders in the bretton woods institutions.
Meanwhile,
the majority of China’s assistance is in government to government model by
non-currency delivery. This protects the general populations from graft in
government and ensures that the money is used for its intended purpose which is
investment in infrastructure and development.
A successful investment ensures the country is able to pay back the
loans without having to subject the citizens to higher taxes and a greater tax
burden.
The best
thing about China is the focus on concrete programs such as infrastructure,
livelihood projects, education, healthcare etc, from which the people can see
and feel and benefit directly. For instance, the new standard gauge railway
linking the port of Mombasa and the border town of Malaba has employed over
25,000 youths from this country that apart from the income they will get, will
also benefit a lot from the skills and technological knowhow from their Chinese
counterparts.
It is impossible to downplay China’s significant contributions to
Kenya’s economic and social development, especially the implementation of
Vision 2030. As for development, China
shares much with Kenya in terms of concepts, goals and approaches. Other development partners perceive Kenya as
backward and underdeveloped, opting to instead dump outdated technologies no
longer in use in their countries. Kenya Vision 2030 and the Chinese Dream have
similarities that will bring both countries together to carry out common
development, integrate our shared interests and combine the wishes and
aspirations of both peoples. It is the shared tasks of both countries to create
a bright future and fulfill common development dreams.
China has become Kenya’s largest source of financing, our largest
construction project contractor and second-largest trade partner. Especially
under the framework of Vision 2030, China and Kenya are working together
closely in many fields, and have built or are building a number of flagship
projects. These have greatly improved Kenya’s capacity of self-development and
laid a solid foundation for Kenya’s future prosperity.
China
is actively involved in the construction of roads,
railways, airports and sea ports in the country. The Thika Superhighway is just
an example of how much these kinds of infrastructure are critical to Kenya’s
development. The road has opened up economic activity and development in areas
along the road. Notable ones being Nakumatt Thika Road Mall (TRM), Garden City
Mall, Naivas mall among others.
The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR,
currently being built by China Road & Bridge, has been the largest
infrastructure project since the independence of Kenya. It is expected to
create more than 30,000 local jobs and lift Kenya’s GDP growth by 1.5%. When
completed, it will have reduced the Mombasa-Nairobi transportation cost by
about 40%, and will boost business along the railway and create numerous jobs.
The expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the
construction of Greenfield Airport will remarkably improve Kenya’s aviation
capacity, and further enhance Kenya’s unique position as the transportation hub
in East Africa. The Chinese participation in the Mombasa Port and Lamu Port
projects will help increase Kenya’s cargo throughput and promote its imports
and exports. There are far more model projects like these, which have become
success stories in Kenya’s households and the symbols of China-Kenya
friendship.
In the field of energy, which is the lifeline for Kenya’s economic
take-off and industrialization, China has provided financing assistance and asked
Chinese companies to engage in related projects. The Olkaria 140-megawatt
geothermal power station, which is the largest of its kind in Africa, has come
into operation recently. PetroChina and Sinopec took part in this project,
which has improved Kenya’s power generation capacity and reduced local
electricity price by around 30%.
It is unimaginable where Kenya would be
without Chinese support of the last decade. Kenya was on a steady downward
slope in terms of economic development. The country was fraught with high
unemployment rates coupled with massive layoffs, essential services were
deteriorating at an alarming rate, our roads were impassable and economic
activities were chocked with inefficiencies.Just as we were on the brink, came in
the Chinese and Kenya witnessed development activities that they had long
forgotten about. We began to see infrastructure development on a scale never
seen before in this country. We began to see new roads, hospitals, schools, and
new communication networks.
Whereas we are not in the business of
comparing that has done more to Kenya in terms of development assistance and
contribution, we must not downplay China’s critical role in our development and
acknowledge that China is among the dominant players in our development quest
and avoid being misled by geopolitical interests.
