Seize investment opportunities at Konza techno city

When the then President Mwai Kibaki launched the Konza Technology City in January 2013, real estate investors trooped in there. Brokers were faster in pitching at the nearby Malili market centre to cash in on the anticipated land market.

Perhaps all were then unaware about the details and pathway to establishing such an intricate private public partnership venture. Speculative land purchases don’t quite apply.

Understandably, the hopes of such fast lane speculators ditched with the passage of time since not much happened around the techno park soon after.

The anticipated demand didn’t quite bloom. But though the speed has been a source of much anxiety and discussion, the development of Konza techno city remains on course.

Renowned Architect and Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) board chair Reuben Mutiso aptly observes: “Doing such cities is a tough thing. If we were just going to do a Mlolongo or an Ongata Rongai, we’d have finished by now. We’d have subdivided the land and given it out to developers without caring about their capacity and without preparing the infrastructure”.

One must admit that the task for the KoTDA team has been, and remains, daunting. Breathing life into a technology park situated right in the middle of this virgin dry savanna grassland patch defined by the convergence of Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado counties, isn’t work for the feeble.

Some have critiqued the progress. I have, therefore, been keen to get a first-hand account. When I recently found myself within the proximity of this park, I seized the opportunity to have some good look and reflect.

Unlike before, the now fully fenced park is a big construction site. There’s an endless flurry of activities.

Evidently, the envisaged internal and external pull factors are beginning to fall in place. A multi-storied headquarters for KoTDA, now complete and acting as an administrative and co-ordinating centre, stands some short distance from the Nairobi-Mombasa highway.

The installation of service infrastructure such as power, access roads, street lighting, water and sanitation, along with internet within the vast park is ongoing. The park enjoys strategic access to the Standard Gauge Railway and the Nairobi-Mombasa superhighway.

The dual carriageway, save for some minor final touch-ups, now runs all the way to the Machakos town junction, making air connectivity to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport quite expedient.

I think it’s time for interested investors to book in.

Real estate developers may consider seizing opportunities to supply office and hospitality facilities, along with staff housing. But only on leasehold for terms not exceeding 99 years.

I was, however, quite worried by the direction the growth of the nearby Malili market is taking. It’s embryonic and informal, with little evidence of proactive efforts to enforce planning standards. And unless this is quickly checked, it could get worse and undermine neighbourhood optics for the techno park.