China may help fund Kenya's Northern Corridor project

7 January 2010

Plans for road and rail lines linking Kenya to southern Sudan and Ethiopia could be funded by Chinese investors, the Financial Times has suggested.

A port and an oil refinery in Lamu are also part of the investment opportunities mentioned by Yang Jiechi, China's foreign minister, when he urged Chinese companies in Kenya to "explore the possibility of co-operation with the Kenyan side of such projects" yesterday (January 6th).

He pointed out that due to the cost and complexity of the plans, Kenya would likely be looking at funding from multiple sources.

The country's extensive oil interests in south Sudan would be aided by the existence of reliable transport infrastructure through Kenya as China currently depends on pipelines to transfer fuel.

"There are studies going on about how much money is involved, what will be the financing. All these things have to be done," Mr Yang added.

President Mwai Kibaki was also quoted yesterday (January 6th) by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation as saying the Lamu port and regional transport projects were top priorities.

Category: Transport