China Touts Success of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway But Leaves Out One Very Important Detail

File image of Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway that China financed and built as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Simon Mania/AFP

Chinese state media is touting the enormous success of the Beijing-backed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya, which serves as a showcase for the Belt and Road Initiative. The official Xinhua published a report last week that was full of numbers that demonstrate the railway’s achievements since it launched in 2017:

  • 14.8 million passengers
  • 38.47 million tons of goods
  • 2,831 days of safe operation
  • $22.4 million of revenue in Q1- Q3 2024, up 36%

However, both Xinhua and the train’s operator, AfriStar, seemingly avoided mentioning one key figure that is of great concern to lawmakers in Nairobi: Kenyan taxpayers spend an average of $7.8 million a month to subsidize the cost of the SGR. This revenue shortfall makes it more difficult for the Treasury to service the estimated $6 billion of loans from the China Exim Bank that were largely used to build the railway.

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by Eric Olander

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