Senegal president praises Chinese railway project

Macky Sall, the president of Senegal, has lauded China's high-quality standards in infrastructure construction after visiting a major project in Kenya.

During a visit to a section of the $3.3 billion Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, he said he looks forward to close collaboration between his nation and China.

"As the chairman of NEPAD, I'm pleased to see China's hand in the development of African infrastructure," he says, referring to the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

Sall, who was in Nairobi to attend the three-day Tokyo International Conference on African Development, took time out on Aug 29 to visit a section of the railway where China Road and Bridge Corp is building a passenger station.

Africa's infrastructure deficit is huge, he says, adding that for the Chinese company "to complete this project well before schedule, it's a huge plus for the continent".

He was joined on the trip by members of his cabinet as well as Wen Gang, chairman of CRBC; Liu Xianfa, the Chinese ambassador to Kenya; and Nyakera Irungu, Kenya's principal secretary for the Ministry of Transport.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development, an African Union agency, aims to eradicate poverty by improving access to integrated regional and continental infrastructure networks and services.

The Mombasa-Nairobi railway is a key infrastructure project that will open up the northern corridor transport route that cuts across eastern and central Africa. It will eventually link the port of Mombasa with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Senegal, and South Sudan.

"Without road and energy infrastructure, Africa will not achieve its development goals," he says.

The Senegalese president plans to attend the G20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Sept 4 and 5, and says he expects to have talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, about infrastructure collaboration.

"Senegal is flat, and we have no wildlife, so developing a standard-gauge railway will be relatively easy," he says.

The Standard Gauge Railway in Senegal will eventually link the port with most of Senegal's mining regions, which sits well with the West African nation's aim to make mining its main economic driver. The country has large deposits of iron ore, gold and oil, and is a major exporter of phosphate, which is used to make nutritional supplements for animals as well as fertilizers.

Sall says his government has a good relationship with CRBC, as the company has successfully undertaken projects such as the Thies-Touba Toll Highway.

Wen, the CRBC chairman, says the company has signed a deal with Kenya to develop a $1.5 billion special economic zone (SEZ)with room for 3,000 enterprises that will have an intended industrial output of $4.5 billion.

"The SEZ will create more than 150,000 jobs," he says, adding: "What can be achieved in Kenya can be achieved in Senegal, too."

Initially, the area will cover 2.5 square kilometers - 360,000 square meters for a port with two 50,000-metric-ton berths - and will mainly be for cargo handling, trade exhibitions, logistics and bonded warehousing.

Long term, between 2021 and 2030, the park will be expanded to 9.5 sq km, with the post eventually covering 470,000 sq m with two 100,000-ton berths to be built.

Once complete, commodities in the park will have easier access to countries within both the East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa as well as the Middle East, East Asia, the European Union, and the United States.

Nyakera, the transport secretary, says the Kenyan government under President Uhuru Kenyatta has given unwavering support to the single-gauge railway project. "This is because of the economic benefits we believe the infrastructure will bring to our people," he adds.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/02/2016 page29)