The Kenyan government is seeking additional $3.5 billion loan from China Eximbank for the construction of the Nairobi-Mombasa railway line, local media reported.
This additional loan from China Eximbank will help the East African nation to finance the construction of the third phase of the Nairobi-Mombasa railway project.
The Nairobi-Mombasa 270km railway is the first leg of a line intended to go all the way to Kampala in Uganda and, eventually, to Rwanda.
Passenger trains will travel at 120km/h, and freight trains will be able to carry 25 million tons per year, according to the International Railway Journal.
It is the centrepiece of an infrastructure splurge by incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces re-election next August.
The railway is being built by state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, which will operate it for the first five years, and financed by China’s Eximbank.
This financial support will bring the total funding granted by China Eximbank to this railway project to about $8 billion (847 billion Kenyan shillings).
According to Xinhua, China has been investing in other projects in Africa, including a mega port in Lamu, Kenya, and a manufacturing zone in Ethiopia.