Nepad commissions study on Kenya-Sudan rail line
Dec 14, 2004 (LiquidAfrica) — John Oyuke
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) will facilitate a feasibility study for the proposed high-speed rail line from Southern Sudan to Mombasa.
The rail project, announced by President Kibaki in his Jamhuri Day speech, was initially intended to run from Rongai in Nakuru to Juba in South Sudan.
However, following recent consultations involving the government, the Sudan People?s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and Thormaelen Holdings International, the German promoters of the project, it was proposed that a feasibility study be carried out to assess economic, social and environmental viability of extending it to the port of Mombasa.
“If this project is implemented, it will have an enormous transformational effect on the region, creating millions of jobs,” said Pete Ondeng, Nepad spokesman for Eastern and Central Africa.
In his speech on Sunday, the President announced the Government?s endorsement of the project, stating that construction would be carried out in collaboration with German investors.
Sources said a high-level team from Thormaehlen firm would be in the region this week to pursue the project with the Kenya Government and also consult with the governments of Ethiopia and Rwanda, which are also keen in either constructing or rehabilitating their rail lines.
Thormaehlen leads a consortium of 15 German companies involved in railway construction, seeking to establish a world-class rail transport infrastructure for Kenya, Uganda and Southern Sudan.
The consortium, which collectively boasts an annual turnover of a whooping euro 22 billion, has already obtained the authorisation of the Sudan People?s Liberation Movement/Army to construct the railway line linking Southern Sudan to the rest of the region.
Ondeng emphasised Nepad?s determination to contribute to cross-border projects that enhance regional integration, including mobilising funds for studies and facilitating partnerships between regional governments and private sector investors.
Ondeng, who was until recently the chief executive officer of Nepad-Kenya Secretariat, is now the chief executive of Nepad-ASET, a regional infrastructure investment support facility that has been established to fast track implementation of “Nepad priority projects” in the East and Central Africa region.
Nepad-ASET is an outgrowth of a strategic alliance formed between Nepad and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the first OECD/Nepad Africa investment roundtable held in Johannesburg, South Africa on November 19, 2004.
The core objective of the facility is to mobilise funds from private and public sources for activities related to planning, design, development and promotion of regional infrastructure projects within the framework of Nepad short-term action plan.