Economy

First phase of railway construction expected to create 30,000 jobs

China Road and Bridge Corporation (CBRC) expects to generate thirty thousand jobs during the construction of the standard gauge railway in phase 1 of the multi-billion project.

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure estimates that 60 jobs will be created in every kilometre of the 609km railway in phase 1 from Nairobi to Mombasa.

“We expect that the construction will spawn at least 60 new jobs per kilometre of track during the construction phase,” said the Infrastructure Cabinet secretary Michael Kamau.

CRBC says the project has the potential to create even more new indirect jobs, largely through local firms that are expected to supply various inputs and services necessary for the venture.

“We will, as much as possible, source inputs from local suppliers. We are here to create opportunities and jobs for Kenyans and not to take away the same to China,” said Julius Li, Liaison and Cooperation Affairs, CRBC.

The construction of the green-field project will use up huge quantities of inputs such as steel, cement, ballast, aggregate, electricity transmission pylons and cables, roofing material and glass.

Mr Li said the use of local workers is to build a critical mass of bankable personnel with the requisite skills for constructing, maintaining and operating a modern railway service in the country.

“Where there is local capacity, we shall mobilise it for the optimal realisation of the project. Where it is absent, we shall create it through a deliberate focus on training and technology transfer to Kenyan workers,” he said.

The Government estimates that a total of 400 engineers and high-level technicians will benefit from technology transfer opportunities generated by the SGR project.

The assurance follows the signing of the financial agreement for the project on Sunday at State House, Nairobi between the National Treasury and Chinese Exim Bank in a Sh327 billion deal.

The ceremony was witnessed by visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and President Uhuru Kenyatta as well as the presidents of the other three East African countries that are part of the regional SGR initiative: Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Salva Kiir of South Sudan.

READ: Kenya, China sign Standard Gauge Rail deal

With the signing of the financial agreement, which will see the Chinese Exim Bank finance 90 per cent of the project cost, with the rest coming from Kenya, largely through the Railway Development Fund (RDF), actual construction is now poised to start in October and is expected to take five years.

Currently, there are 85 Chinese employees working in the CRBC Kenya office together with 1,582 local staff, the latter accounting for a significant 95 per cent of the total number of workers.