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President Ruto scouts for public-private partnership deals on China tour

Kenya eyes more Chinese investments as Ruto attends Belt and Road forum

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  • President William Ruto who is attending the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing is urging Chinese investors to target energy, water and housing sectors in Kenya.
  • He said Kenya will support investors who will add value to the country’s abundant raw materials.
  • The President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Energy China.

Kenya is seeking more investments from China amid a slow return to borrowing for development, which could see the East Asian country continue with its dominance in Kenya’s infrastructure space.

President William Ruto, who is attending the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, has urged Chinese investors to exploit opportunities in the fields of energy, water and housing in Kenya. He said Kenya will support investors who will add value to the country’s abundant raw materials.

“Kenya presents real opportunities for investment especially in transformative areas …

Kenya will be keen to secure a Ksh370 billion (US$3.67 billion) loan from China for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) as the World meets for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing this week. President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga are expected to lead a delegation from Kenya to the Beijing meeting. If secured, It will push up Kenya’s debt obligation to China to above US$9.8 billion (Ksh991.2 billion), after loans from Beijing closed 2018 at US$6.2 billion (Sh627.1 billion).

Is China setting a debt trap on Kenya?

Kenya

Loans from China hit a high of US$6.2 billion last year

The Chinese government has dismissed claims that it’s continued heavy lending to Kenya in the financing of mega infrastructure projects is a ‘ debt trap’, even as loans from Beijing hit a high of ShUS$6.2 billion(Sh625.9 billion) in December last year.

This is up from US$5.3 billion (Sh535 billion) a year earlier with a lion share going towards the construction of the multi-billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

“We are not putting Kenya into a debt trap. China-Africa corporation cannot put Africa into a trap but booming economic growth,” China’s Charge’ D’affaires (Nairobi) LI Xuhang said during a meeting in Nairobi on the update on the SGR and China-Kenya relations.

“Kenya can decide on who they want to partner with. Kenyan people are wise enough to choose their trade and corporation partners. They can decide who benefits them more,” Xuhang …