Category: Railways
With a $1 Billion Payment Due, Kenyan MPs Call on Government to Renegotiate SGR Loan Deal with China
Kenya's National Treasury is calling on the parliament to provide it with $940 million dollars for the latest instalment to repay China for the controversial Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). The Treasury's request prompted new appeals from MPs for urgent talks with ...
One of the First Classes of Nigerian Railway Engineers Graduates From University in China
One of the first classes of Nigerian railway engineers graduated this weekend from China's Central South University (中南大学)in Hunan and will soon return to help manage the new Chinese-built railways back home. ...
Kenyan Government’s Hiring of the State-Owned Chinese Company Used to Build the SGR Ruled Illegal by Court of Appeals
Kenya's Court of Appeals dealt a devastating blow to the government and its national rail company when it ruled on Friday that the $4.7 billion (Ksh 500 million) contract with the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was illegal and violated the constitution. ...
Nigeria’s Transport Minister: China Expected to Approve $5.3 Billion in New Loans
Nigeria's Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, confirmed that China is expected to approve a new $5.3 billion loan package to build the Ibadan-Kano rail line. The minister made the comments during an interview with the Nigerian news network ChannelsTV and added that he expects the funds ...
Kenya’s Parliament Warned That Unpaid Debts to China Threaten Standard Gauge Railway Service
Kenya Railways is falling behind in its debt service payments for one of the country's new Chinese-built and financed Standard Gauge Railway lines, according to a new budget report submitted to the Kenyan parliament on Wednesday. In its fiscal year 2020-2021 ...
KTN’s Mike Gitonga: “The SGR Has Had Scandals Right From the Word Go”
KTN News presenter Mike Gitonga discussed The Standard's reporting on the escalating SGR scandal in his morning "Press Review" segment on Monday. Gigtonga cited years of "fraud" and "malpractice" allegedly committed by the Chinese operator CRBC and its subsidiary AfriStar.
Kenya Railways Dismisses Efforts to Cancel Contract With the Company’s Chinese Partner
Kenya Railways downplayed reports that it will be forced to cancel its contract with the Chinese-run AfriStar, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned enterprise China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), that currently operates the country's Standard Gauge Railway, according to The Standard newspaper.
In a Dramatic Move, Kenya’s Solicitor General Wants to Terminate the SGR’s Contract With Its Chinese Operator
Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto is calling for the immediate termination of Kenya Railways's contract with the Chinese-owned Africa Star Railway Operation Company, two years ahead of the agreement's scheduled review date. Ogeto's move is apparently motivated by lower than expected revenue ...
The Future of Chinese Rail Financing in Africa
China famously lent billions of dollars to countries across Africa to build expensive, new railways. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya all used loans from Beijing to build new lines using a standard gauge (SGR) that will one day ...
From Ship to Rail to Air, Kenya’s Trade With China Slowing to a Halt
Chinese port activity increased in March in what many see as the first good news to come out of China's hobbled economy since the COVID-19 outbreak effectively shut down the economy last month. The container throughput at the eight of China's ...
Why East Africa’s Next Railways Won’t be Built With Chinese Money
From Ethiopia to Kenya and soon Tanzania, thousands of kilometers of new railways are coming online. And if Tanzanian President John Magufuli is successful, Dar es Salaam will emerge as the hub of a hugely ambitious regional railway network that will stretch across half a dozen countries. ...
Scandal, Low Ticket Sales Plague Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway
Bad news keeps piling up for the multi-billion dollar Chinese-financed and constructed Standard Gauge Railway network, the centerpiece of President Uhuru Kenyatta's ambitious infrastructure development agenda. Ridership and cargo freight volumes are both coming in much lower than expected on several ...