Why West will struggle to keep pace with China on infrastructure projects

Driving to Nyeri last week, I witnessed the Kenol-Sagana-Marua dual carriageway project by Chinese in full progress. Then driving around the county, I saw as many as three ongoing Chinese road projects. In Nairobi we have the Chinese “upstairs” Expressway and Western by-pass projects. All over Kenya, many other Chinese road projects are ongoing.

Kenyans joke that the hardworking “Mu-China” is quite busy building our country, as we merrily feast in politics. It is a fact that Chinese road projects are usually delivered on time, on specification, and on cost. And this has been the case since the Chinese delivered Thika Superhighway and the by-passes around Nairobi during Kibaki’s presidency. Indeed, the Chinese have entrenched themselves in infrastructure construction all over Africa.