• Experts opine that the construction of the SGR from Mombasa- Nairobi-Naivasha has played a connector role, connecting people, economies
• Say Chinese investments in infrastructure and will boost the resilience of Horn of Africa's economies, while shielding youth from the allure of joining radical groups
Image: HANDOUT
The construction of railways will enhance peace, stability and development in the Horn of Africa region, experts say.
The experts say the construction of the Sh360 billion SGR from Mombasa- Nairobi-Naivasha, which is expected to be extended to Malaba and Kisumu, has played a connector role for the people and economies and thus the surest way of attaining peace and development.
They spoke during the second Seminar on China-Africa Cooperation on the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa on August 23-24.
The seminar convened by the Africa Policy Institute was held aboard the SGR Coach from Nairobi to Mombasa and at the Sarova White Sands Hotel.
API Chief Executive Prof Peter Kagwanja, who is also a Special Adviser to the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, said the SGR is “an epic story of South-South partnership between China and Africa, which has modernised the country and empowered its people and united a region”.
"China is deepening structural frameworks of its engagement with the Horn of Africa countries and through projects such as the SGR, it has ensured the nexus between peace and development is sustained," Kagwanja said.
The volume of cargo handled by the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR line has grown from 2.9 million tonnes in 2018; to 4.16 million tonnes in 2019; 4.4 million tonnes in 2020; 5.4 million tonnes in 2021; and 6.3 million tonnes in 2022.
Since January 2018, SGR’s freight services grew from an average of a train a day to eight pairs of freight trains a day. The service had as of 2022 moved 20,439,003 tonnes of cargo.
Revenues generated from the SGR grew 6.9 per cent last year to Sh15.3 billion buoyed by a strong performance in freight business.
However, the annual revenues remain below the operating costs estimated at Sh18.5 billion, meaning SGR is still struggling to make enough to meet the country’s loan obligations to China.
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During the first quarter of 2023, passengers increased to 597,506 up from the 518,780 recorded in the same period the previous year, representing a 15.2 per cent.
This has helped in easing movement of people and goods, thus promoting trade and tourism, opening up of undeveloped areas, enhanced the growth of settlements, towns and cities as well as creation of jobs.
“Railway is a facilitator of peace, connecting people, communities and economies along. Through the railway, you also get development. It also connects vast lands of lands in thousands of kilometres thus the surest way to African unity,” Prof Kgwanja said.
UN Resident Coordinator-Kenya Dr Stephen Jackson observed that the China-Kenya collective investment in infrastructure for instance through the railway, the Lamu port and the Expressway can promote growth, peace and development.
Recalling UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's remarks at the 2019 Belt and Road Initiative Forum, Jackson said ‘the five pillars of the Belt and Road – policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people exchanges – are intrinsically linked to the 17 SDGs.
“These are conceptual pillars that can be translated into real-life progress for all people,” Jackson said.
Other experts who attended were Amb Erastus Mwencha, Africa Capacity Building Foundation chairman; Dr Mustafa Ali, chairman and co-founder of the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies; Prof. Fred Jonyo, UoN Department of Political Science chairman; Dr Samuel Kareithi, the Country Director-Kenya at Gatsby Africa; Rana Taha, Peace and Development Adviser with the UN in Nairobi; and Munene Mwaniki executive director, China-Africa Center at API.
China Ambassador to Kenya Dr Zhou Pingjian graced the event.
Mustafa said with the SGR interconnectedness, prospects for long-term peace and stability in the region as well as shared growth are now higher with the accelerated opening up.
"Chinese investments in modern infrastructure and skills development will boost the resilience of Horn of Africa's economies, while shielding its youth from the allure of joining radical groups," Mustafa noted.
Amb Mwencha, who is also former AU Commission deputy chairman, said China has through the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation accompanied Africa in tackling various challenges, especially in infrastructure.
"China is aware that you cannot develop without global peace, if there is no global security and development and Africa is one of those regions that are suffering from that. So China is accompanying Africa in its development agenda and through development, there is mutual cooperation," Mwencha said.
Other than the Kenya SGR, China also built the Addis Ababa-Djibouti SGR, Africa's first fully electrified trans-boundary railway, that has been lauded for contributed to regional integration and the betterment of communities along the way.
CHINA AND HORN PEACE AND STABILITY
Beijing has in recent years taken a keen interest in the peace and stability in the region. on January 6, 2022, it proposed the China-Africa “Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa.
The framework consists of peace, governance and development pillars to support countries in the region to deal with escalating conflicts, civil wars, terrorism, disease, and the impacts of climate change.
This is to safeguard development gains and provide an enabling governance environment for further development.
In February 2022, Ambassador Xue Bing was appointed China special envoy for the Horn of Africa.
Image: PCS
During the July meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi and President William Ruto, China said it was ready to advance the implementation of the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa", and safeguard regional peace and development.
President Ruto said Kenya is committed to deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China and cooperation in among other fields, railway and highways under the BRI and FOCAC to promote connectivity and regional integration.
On July 28, Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen announced Kenya and Uganda had signed an agreement to extend the SGR to Uganda.
Murkomen said the extension will start from Naivasha, through Kisumu to the Malaba border, connecting to the Malaba-Kampala route on the Ugandan side.
Phase 2B from Naivasha to Kisumu is expected to cost Sh380 billion, while phase 2C, from Kisumu to Malaba, will take another Sh122.9 billion.
There is also another plan within the Lapsset project to have the line move from Mariakani in Mombasa to Lamu and Isiolo. From Isiolo, the SGR will then be connected to the northeastern town of Moyale, which borders Ethiopia.