The Ministry of ICT has reached a deal with a consultant for key infrastructure at the Konza Technology City, Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said yesterday.
The contractor will provide guidelines for funding and development of streets, waste-water treatment and recycling facility, bulk water treatment, booster station and storage, and installing fibre optic infrastructure at the proposed technopolis.
“So far we have concluded procuring a contractor who will come up with finance for the construction of streetscape and sub-surface utilities, power distribution and substation, as well as solid waste management,” Mucheru said in Nairobi.
Speaking at the KOTDA-five year strategic plan 2020 launch in Nairobi, Mucheru said the search for a design consultant for the Korea Exim Bank funded university – Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology – will begin in January.
The Kenya-KAIST will be the anchor project.
The infrastructure is expected to attract more investors to the multibillion-shilling smart city, launched on January 23, 2013, by former President Mwai Kibaki.
Development has been slowed down by, among others, inadequate financing, lack of a strategic plan and challenges in attracting high-end talent in the smart city development, the Konza Technopolis Development Authority said yesterday.
“We have not gotten enough funding but we have entities including government which are willing to support us. That is one of the weaknesses we need to address,” CEO John Tanui said.
However, he said the government gave Sh3 billion for
the construction of the first building - The Konza Complex.
The eight-eight-storey building, which will serve as the administration block, is expected to be complete by 2018, Tanui said, adding that six institutions of higher
learning have expressed interest in setting up campuses at the city.
Chairman Reuben Mutiso said the board has received 60 bids for the first phase of the project, which will sit on 24 parcels of land.
Complete supporting infrastructure includes a 132 kilovolt power substation which was completed in May this year and the supply of over 2,000 cubic metres per day of water.
Developers are expected to to raise between Sh250 million and Sh2.7 billion projects under phase one which is expected to be complete by 2020, and
expected to create over 20,000 jobs.
The city is designed to be Africa's Silicon Savannah, contributing $1billion (Sh102.2 billion), approximately 2 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.