Kenya has awarded the construction contract for East Africa’s first smart city.
The $390-million engineering, procurement, construction and financing contract – entailing the construction of roads and water and sewerage infrastructure within the 400 acre first phase of Konza Techno City, about 60 km south-east of Nairobi – has been awarded to Italian company Impresa Construzioni Guiseppe Maltauro (ICM). The company will also install fibre-optic links, substations, a solid waste management system, a water reclamation plant and a reservoir.
Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTD) CEO John Tanui said last month that ICM was expected to start working on the project that month, paving the way for investors to start developing various facilities.
“Construction starts in July and ICM is expected to build horizontal infrastructure as well as all basic amenities,” said Tanui.
Dubbed Africa’s Silicon Savannah, Konza Techno City is expected to pump $950- million into the Kenyan economy and will attract investors who will build information and communication technology (ICT), as well as innovation facilities, transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy.
It is envisaged that, when completed, Konza will be a world-class technology hub and house leading companies in education, life sciences, telecommunications and business process outsourcing (BPO), contributing significantly to the growth of the ICT sector and the overall economy.
TheKOTDA has already invited potential investors to submit proposals for ventures such BPO campuses, technology incubation centres and research and development facilities.
The Korean government has committed to financing the construction of a $100- million Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology at Konza. Kenyan universities are also planning to establish campuses there.