Konza Techno City: Slow but sure

Don YF

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Construction of Kenya’s silicon Savannah that is Konza city is now taking shape with the government committing Shs.40 billion for the development of the requisite horizontal infrastructure this financial year.
Already the government has put up the Konza city complex which will be complete by November 2018 which will prove wrong the naysayers who questioned the government’s commitment to the project.

Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary (CS), Joe Mucheru said that in the next three years the government will have completed the infrastructure which is necessary for a modern techno city.

Mucheru who was speaking on Thursday during a tour of Konza City together with the ICT committees from Senate, National Assembly and the Council of Governors (CoG) said that contractor is already on the ground and has started some of the works.

“We are going to construct a 40 kilometer road network in the Konza city, it will go along with a fiber cable and electricity reticulation that will be in an underground tunnel which will help avoid disruptions of roads during repairs since the city will be operational 24 hours a day,” explained Mucheru.

Mucheru said that the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) is constructing a 400 KV station specifically for Konza city adding that they will set up a water re-use system.

He added that the government has allocated an additional Shs.17 billion to set up the national data centre.

Mucheru said that they are going to form a national ICT steering committee which is going to be comprised of all the chairs of the various committees and the ICT ministry.

“ICT is an enabler for the big four agenda and we must continue supporting ICT projects in this country and be able to ensure it is touching people’s lives, we have looked at the progress of the Konza city and everyone is impressed by the status of developments,” explained the CS.

Council of Governors ICT committee Chairman, Alex Tolgos from Elegeyo Marakwet said that the counties are struggling with revenue collection and innovations from Konza city can help them improve on this.

Tolgos said that the ICT departments in the counties are underfunded since they fall under other departments and this needs to change if any meaningful innovations are to be achieved.

The National Assembly ICT Chairman, William Kisang said…“We believe for Konza to go forward the ministry needs to come up with a bill, bring it to parliament so that it is anchored in law like the rest.”

The chair challenged Kenyan investors to put up an ultra-modern cancer center at Konza city exuding optimism that with the technology at the city a cancer cure will be discovered saving Kenyans from going to India.

The Senate ICT Chairman, Gideon Moi said… “10 million jobless Kenyan youth is a walking time bomb, we may not see them, we may not hear them but trust me we will feel them.”

He said that it is fantastic to hear that the Ajira platform by the ICT Ministry will be able to create a million jobs for our youths annually.
 
Italian Firm wins 40Bn konza city contract for roads and sewerages.
In Summary
Technically known as the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPCF) contractor, ICM will oversee the building of roads, water and sewerage infrastructure within the 400 acre phase one of Konza.
Konza is a key plank of Kenya’s ambition to become East Africa’s technology hub, but whose construction has delayed for years – partly due to lack of funding.
The renewed interest in the plan began last year in the wake of the South Korean government’s Sh10 billion commitment to build a technology institute in the city.
ICM is expected to build infrastructure that will facilitate the growth of these and other businesses.
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by Taboola
In the headlines Italian firm wins Sh40bn Konza city roads, sewerage contract
      
By MUTHOKI MUMO
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The planned construction of Kenya’s first smart city, Konza, is expected to start in earnest this month following the award of a Sh40 billion infrastructure design and building contract to an Italian company.
Impresa Construzioni Guiseppe Maltauro (ICM) has been picked as the general contractor, who will design the infrastructure for phase one of the project as well as procure the necessary material and equipment.
Technically known as the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPCF) contractor, ICM will oversee the building of roads, water and sewerage infrastructure within the 400 acre phase one of Konza.
“Construction starts in July and ICM is expected to build horizontal infrastructure as well as all the basic amenities,” said Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTDA) chief executive, John Tanui.
Tender documents from last year show that the EPCF contractor is supposed to oversee the building of 40 kilometres of landscaped streets. The company will also landscape the parks and set up water distribution, sewage collection and treatment facilities. ICM is also expected to build a water reclamation plant and a reservoir for the city.
Going for an Italian firm is unusual for the government, which has in recent years tended to opt for Chinese firms. ICM beat three other companies in the running for the project — Central Electrical International; China CAMC; and Zhongmei Gibb.
Konza is a key plank of Kenya’s ambition to become East Africa’s technology hub, but whose construction has delayed for years – partly due to lack of funding.
READ: Konza opens 400 acres to investors in new offer
READ: MPs want freeze on new mega projects
ALSO READ: Missed power targets blamed on counties
The renewed interest in the plan began last year in the wake of the South Korean government’s Sh10 billion commitment to build a technology institute in the city.
Konza last week advertised for investors to bid for 150 parcels of land in the 400-acre phase one. Private investors will build schools, a petrol station, business process outsourcing (BPO) campuses and tech incubation hubs.
ICM is expected to build infrastructure that will facilitate the growth of these and other businesses. The Vicenza-based ICM group of companies was founded in 1922 and has maintained a strong interest in the construction of roads; hydraulic and infrastructural works as well as civil engineering.
It also has interests in mining and prefabrication.
Since 2016, ICM has been pursuing a strategy that will see it break with its family-run past and expand its operations beyond Italy.
The company last year said that it wanted to double its revenues by 2019 and is therefore investing abroad, including a billion-Euro deal with Qatar’s Ministry of Defence. ICM did not respond to questions from the Business Daily .
Notices posted on its website show that the company had revenues of Sh56.8 billion (482 million euro) and 1,182 employees in 2015. Repubblica writes that Africa contributes to about two per cent of worth of tenders that ICM in which ICM is participating.
 
MPs BREATH 2.4BN INTO KONZA TECHNO CITY
SUMMARY
Konza City Technopolis has promised to
create 200,000 jobs directly upon
completion and numerous others indirectly
Sh875 million will go into development of
Konza complex headquarters, Sh525
million to consultants and Sh259 million
access roads
The Treasury has increased funds allocated to Konza City Development Authority to breathe new life into stalled development projects.
This comes following last week’s review of the 2018/2019 budget by Parliament’s Budget and Appropriation Committee where lawmakers increased fund allocation to various State departments in the ICT sector.
Top on the list was the Konza City that received Sh2.4 billion, part of which had been stripped from its allocation during last year’s supplementary budget.
“The committee recommended Sh1.6 billion be allocated to Konza Technopolis Development Authority,” said Parliament’s Budget committee in its report. Out of this, Sh875 million would go to the development of the Konza complex headquarters, Sh525 million to consultants and Sh259 million to access roads.
Parliament said its decision to increase the allocation to the multi- billion project was in part due to the importance attached to Konza as a vision 2030 project. “Sh771 million be returned to the Konza Technopolis Development Authority that had been deducted during Supplementary Budget in 2017/2018 financial year,” said MPs.
In addition to this, Parliament recommended that Sh140 million be allocated to the parastatal’s recurrent budget to help “create awareness to the public and other countries.”
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The allocations have raised speculation over whether the stalled multi-billion dollar development project will finally get off the ground five years after being launched.
Former President Kibaki launched Konza City in January 2013 but over the years, the development has stalled with investors that had reportedly lined up in the initial stages going silent on their stake in the Vision 2030 project.
The initial plan was to have Konza exist as a hub where technology policy makers, developers and academics converge in a setting equipped with the latest in digital infrastructure such as fibre connectivity and location sensors.
In the initial phase, the Government was optimistic that the idea would attract local and international investment and create an ecosystem similar to established hubs in Silicon Valley, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Moreover, policy makers in Government hoped that the success from M-Pesa and Ushahidi that had put Kenya on the map as an emerging Silicon Savannah would guarantee support.
“We have an active ecosystem of developers coming up with innovative solutions in Nairobi at the moment and the government and universities need to help these start-ups to grow and become big companies,” explained Dr Bitange Ndemo, former Permanent Secretary Ministry of ICT.
“The best example is in Silicon Valley where universities and start-ups saw the creation of firms such as Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Cisco.”
Some of the international companies that reportedly registered interest in Konza include Google, Toyota, Huawei, BlackBerry’s Research In Motion and India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group among others.
In 2014, the Government and US- based firm Tetra Tech Inc. signed a Sh2.5 billion deal to have the firm oversee the development of phase one of the project. The four-year contract was supposed to see Tetra Tech lead nine other architectural, engineering and logistics firms to create the first physical structures.
Subsidised leaseholds
This entailed the design and construction of residential and commercial buildings for 30,000 residents, 7,500 knowledge workers and 16,700 other workers who would form the first locus of the 5,000-acre city.
To fast track investment, the Government even offered investors the incentive of subsidised leaseholds to take up any of the 21 parcels of land on 60 acres ready for investment.
Today, however, not much development work is visible on the dusty expansive land except for a half-constructed building launched two years ago and expected to serve as the administrative headquarters of Konza Development Authority.
Konza City Technopolis had promised to create 200,000 jobs directly upon completion and numerous others indirectly.
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KONZA AUTHORITY PERMITS FOUR INSTITUTIONS TO SET UP
NAIROBI, KENYA: The dream of Konza City in MachakosCounty is slowly becoming a reality with construction of office blocks currently going on in the area.
Since its launch in 2012 by ex-president Mwai Kibaki no much activity has been taking place in the area, however this have started shaping up with the construction of a multistory building to be occupied by Konza Development Authority and other companies planning to start early developments in the city.
“Konza is now at the take-off coming out from the plans to actual implementation, the office block is coming up and our contractors have also settled to offer the required amenities,” says Konza Technopolis Development Authority boss John Tanui.
The government has set aside Sh73 billion in the current financial year for the actualization of the project with the agenda of laying the necessary infrastructure before development of the smart city that will occupy 5000 acre of land.
According to ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru who visited the project on Wednesday Sh40 billion of the budget will go into the horizontal infrastructure which includes roads, sewerage and water among others.
Konza Technopolis Authority disclosed that Korean University, KETRACO, Craft Silicon, and National Construction Authority are among entities that have been granted permission to set up in the city.
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“The ultimate result is the job creation, impact to the economy, and innovation that the investors bring to us,” he added.
Earlier reports indicate that at least 200,000 jobs will be created upon completion of the City by 2030. So far 17,000 jobs have been created in the ongoing earthworks on first 400 acres of the 5000 acre project.
Assuring investors that the Vision 2030 flagship project is on course as per the plan, Tanui said so far, they have received some 400 Expression of Interest both solicited and unsolicited from persons who want a share of the Sh600 billion project.
 
Konza tech city gets Sh400m more in Budget
THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018 20:29
BY ANNIE NJANJA
Parliament has allocated an additional Sh400 million in the budget for completion of Konza city.
The Parliamentary Budget Committee allocated the amount to Konza Technopolis Development Authority, increasing funding for the next financial year to Sh8.3 billion.
The supplementary budget tabled in Parliament earlier had set aside Sh7.9 billion for development of the tech city.
The amount is part of the Sh52.2 billion the government is expected to inject into the setting up of the city’s basic infrastructure. Konza is a key plank of Kenya’s ambition to become East Africa’s tech hub.
 
Are cities built or Do they Grow from small towns to urban centers depending on availability of jobs and business? I dont remember Kisumu being "built" and residents urshered in to occupy the new city. Neither was mombasa or Nairobi built then people told to go live there.
Just like Collapsing Tatu where real estste sharks are eating each other, Konza is a playground for Real estate speculators to lure unsuspecting buyers and defraud them. There is no city here..Cites are not "built"
 
SOUTH KOREA PUMPS $94M INTO KONZA TECHNOPOLIS-BASED SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
By Kenyan Digest - August 1, 2018 
Plans to set up Kenya’s Korea funded science and technology center at the Konza Techno City Development Authority (KoTDA) are in advanced stage. The facility’s development is expected to commence in September.
Konza CEO Eng. John Tanui has said, plans are at an advance stage to set up the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) adding that tenders for construction of KAIST, modeled on South Korea’s Institute of Science and Technology, will be awarded in September and construction will be expected to start immediately. He further said that construction will be completed by 2021, with the first batch of 200 of 600 graduate students starting classes in 2022.
Konza Technopolis is a Vision 2030 project aimed at positioning Kenya, as knowledge-based economy and a preferred Science, Technology and Innovation destination.
The objective of Technopolis is to build a vibrant innovation ecosystem to promote life Science, Engineering and ICT/ITES that will enhance local innovation, Research, and Development, entrepreneurship and Technology enterprise formation culture.
Kenya government and the government of South Korea signed a pre-loan agreement in 2017 for the establishment of KAIST which will culminate to the eventual signing of a loan agreement with Korea Eximbank, amounting to US$94,697,000.
The establishment of KAIST aims to enhance the quality of higher learning while nurturing a technologically advanced population, as well as producing creative young talents and leaders. Phase I of KAIST will be located on 400 acres of land at Konza Technopolis City. It is estimated to generate 17,000 jobs upon completion.
 
Techno cities are build, cilicon Savannah and several others, even Eco city in Lagos, Tatu city in Nairobi etc., we are living in interesting times. Microwave generation. Things are fast tracked.
 
They are created by god??
 
Yosef Festo said:
Techno cities are build, cilicon Savannah and several others, even Eco city in Lagos, Tatu city in Nairobi etc., we are living in interesting times. Microwave generation. Things are fast tracked.
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So Konza is supposed to be like sillicon valley in California? Find out if Sicilicon valley was built then the Gvt told Microsoft,google,intel,facebook to quickly move in and build their businesses.
Cities are not built, economic realities create cities. You cannot build a city and hope that an economic reality will come to justify the existence of that city.
 
watch this space.
 
Yosef Festo said:
watch this space.
Click to expand...
I have closely watched Tatu and I only see sharks eating each other not thriving cities. Infact I was watching the chairman of Tatu -former CBK governor nyaga telling parliment its time Tatu is "closed". I have better things to do than watch konza shark fest
 
my friend you and geza ulole seem to be on one path.....youre very jealous...
 
Wembe1 said:
Just like Dodoma is being built. They should have worked on the supporting infrastructure first. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Tatu and Konza both started with drainages and sewerage lines and other service ducts including roads.
Click to expand...
Dodoma is an Gvt and diplomatic administrative center, That only gives justification for its existence a city will grow out of that reality
 
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