BEIJING – China will work with Kenya for “an even more robust comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” following bilateral talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart William Ruto in Beijing.
Following the talks during the Third Belt and Road Initiative Forum China Foreign Affairs ministry said the two countries have both found their cooperation rewarding.
“Over the past decade, China and Kenya together built the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and the oil terminal at the Port of Mombasa, among other projects. The Chinese find our cooperation rewarding,” Hua Chunying, ministry Spokesperson said on Wednesday.
President Ruto on Tuesday had after the state banquet hosted in honour of visiting heads of state and government said China is a valued partner in Kenya’s development journey.
“We shall stay the course of partnership, collaboration and cooperation for the mutual advancement of both nations and our citizens,”he said on X.
While particulars of the talks were not immediately established, the presence of the Cabinets secretaries Njuguna Ndungú (Treasury) and Kipchumba Murkomen was indictive infrastructure financing and debt issues were on the table.
On Tuesday, President Ruto announced that Kenya was seeking more funding from China to complete the Standard Gauge Railway in a joint bid with Uganda, the DRC and Congo Brazzaville.
Speaking during the Kenya-China investors roundtable in Beijing, China, President Ruto said talks have begun for the joint initiative in bid to improve flow of cargo and make the northern corridor competitive after the SGR stalled in Naivasha.
In seeking the viability of the railway after the initial financier, China, pulled out of the project, Kenya and Uganda in July this year announced they were seeking $6 billion to extend the railway.
President Ruto confirmed they are trying to bring China on board to complete one of the key Belt and Road Initiative projects in the country.
“Why we are discussing with China on extending the Standard Gauge Railway beyond Naivasha into Uganda, DRC, all the way to Congo Brazzaville is because we want to connect the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of Africa using the SGR,” President Ruto said.
“We have had conversations with the Presidents of Uganda, DRC and Congo Brazzaville and we have all agreed on the need to extend this piece of infrastructure as a means of facilitating trade across our continent and making sure companies like yourselves, who set up in Kenya, not only have access to the Kenyan market but also the Eastern African and continental market. We have made the decision that is the way to go,” Ruto told the investors, adding that the project will be a joint bid.
In the plan, the railway will extend to Kampala, Kasese to Mpondwe near the border with DR Congo. It will also head to Rwanda and South Sudan to make the northern corridor competitive.
President Ruto said the project will improve cargo transportation, where goods from Mombasa port to Uganda and on to DRC, Rwanda and South Sudan will be done by rail.
In July, Transport ministers Kipchumba Murkomen (Kenya) and Katumba Wamala ( Uganda) agreed to jointly source for financing, either in form of loans or a public-private partnership arrangement, for the project to resume.
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.
