肯尼亚致力打造“智慧非洲”样板

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Kenya: Engaged in Building a Model of “Smart Africa”

——Interview with Mr. James Macharia, Minister of Transport, Road, Housing and Urban Development of Kenya

By VICTOR ONYANGO  Special Correspondent of Chinainvestment, Journalist with Nation Media Group (Daily Nation) KENYA

Sino-Kenya is at its par as both sides continue to expand their ties with the aim of achieving win-win results however, the East African country has continued to receive criticisms from some experts on its allegiance to Beijing. Many argue that the country over borrows from the Asian country hence it is entering debt trap something which Kenya has dispelled in many occasions.

As an active participant of China’s multibillion infrastructure project dubbed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), let’s find out where the country has reached with the implementation of 2018 Beijing Summit on FOCAC,this what the country’s Minister of Transport, Road, Housing and Urban Development Kenya James Macharia shared with China Investment Magazine on the sidelines of the African Coordinators of the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

China Investment: What is the current status of the implementation of the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) and what are the results achieved and problems encountered?

James Macharia: Kenya is one of the key beneficiaries of the 2018’s Beijing Summit and through the eight initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, of which one is infrastructure connectivity and currently, we are implementing one of the largest infrastructure project in Africa. It is the first largest ever done in East and Central Africa that is standard gauge railway (SGR) and we have a very positive report card on it which we can present anywhere because we have successfully completed the first phase Nairobi-Mombasa with the help of Beijing.

Our country remain significant and strategic to the Maritime Silk Road under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Africa’s Golden segment of the BRI starts in Mombasa on the east coast, go toward the west, and border Uganda, and then go right into what we call the Great Lakes and then to the west coast of Africa.

Hence, people worldwide needs to comprehend that BRI is not just words because for us, we are seeing it because even phase 2A which starts from Nairobi to Naivasha is 98 percent complement and will be operationalized by September this year. Discussions are also underway on the second half of the regional infrastructure going into the heartland of Africa.

On the other side, Kenya is located in a volatile region prone of terror attacks and this will continue to pose threats to these kinds of projects maybe not now but in future if countries do not join hands to fight Al-Shabaab.

China Investment: How do you understand China’s proposal for China-Africa cooperation to develop in a high quality and sustainable direction?

James Macharia: In fact, there is need of for both sides to incorporate China’s BRI and AU’s Agenda 2063 as a way of looking for complementarity in order to broaden the development strategies in line with the spirit of win-win cooperation and increase people-to-people exchanges.

Secondly, I also agree with President Xi’s idea of building a shared community with shared interests for human being in order to improve lives of our people and that is why our cooperation should remain to be people centered, extensive consultations so that no one is left behind but we move as a family through fostering high standards of global partnership.

However, many maybe opposed to this but Africa is keenly looking for what is good for itself and that is what China is providing us with at the moment and I hope this will proceed to sectors like increased productivity, technology among others.

China Investment: In the face of the complex changes in the current international situation, what do you think is the direction of China-Africa cooperation?

James Macharia: Today, it is very clear that global growth has shifted towards Asia, while Africa is the future growth pole and this why China and Africa need to propel their partnership a notch higher because the rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses a great threat to international cooperation and global economy hence China and other countries should uphold and appreciate the culture of trading reinforced by multilateral cooperation.

We need to safeguard the United Nations centered international standards as well as working together to promote peace globally.

The success of FOCAC partnership will depend on how well and fast we translate the vision and goals of the alliance into real tangibles for the citizens of Africa and China.

If it is fully utilized, the impact will not only strengthen individual country economies but also contribute to the global growth as well.

China Investment: What role do you think BRI will play in promoting China-Africa close cooperation?

James Macharia: BRI offers solutions to the infrastructural problems facing Africa as well as it accelerate practical cooperation not only to Africa but globally. Hence, time has come for the world to embrace BRI at the expense of bringing valuable development to the people.

The issue of infrastructure deficit in the continent was the reason why Africa has continued to remain behind in terms of development adding that BRI will help bridge the deficit. BRI is an idea whose time has come to create a new world order where countries come together to promote national understanding and through this, the issue of infrastructure deficit can be solved as well as development and trade will thrive.

So far, BRI has helped member countries open up for more trade opportunities, it is something which is much beneficial and should be encouraged by AU for all African countries to join because countries will create more national understandings through trade.

The infrastructure deficit has been working negatively for the continent because we take more from others without value for our goods. It is vital to get value of our goods when we trade with each other.

China Investment: What is the result of cooperation between Kenya and China in trade and investment? What difficulties have you encountered?

James Macharia: There is a pragmatic relationship between Nairobi and Beijing which has seen trade between the two countries increase tremendously with several Chinese companies investing in Kenya. Every week, we receive a delegation from China who want to invest in the country.

As a country also, we have a long list of projects which are not only scheduled for implementation but also ones which have been completed fully without any problem and this can be interpreted as a brotherhoods relation where we value and respect each other.

But the trade deficit between the two countries remain huge, in fact our export only counts for 2.4 percent of the total import from China and am happy to note that Beijing has acknowledged this imbalance and is willing to come up with measures aimed at correcting it. The First Chin-Africa Economic and Trade Expo is indeed a reaffirmation by China that its partnership with Kenya and other countries is a win-win cooperation.For that reason, am going to Changsha, Hunan Province for the Expo and it will be about trade of agricultural products and manufacturing products. And so the bilateral relations are getting much, much broader in terms of what we are doing with China.

Our interest in the Expo is to penetrate China’s market with our horticultural products so that we can bridge the current trade imbalance between Kenya and China. This is only possible if we create awareness for our produce.

We will also use the Expo as well to showcase other opportunities in Kenya such as tourism among others.

China Investment: How does Kenya pragmatically promote high quality cooperation between the two sides? How will the two sides overcome the difficulties and achieve win-win cooperation?

James Macharia: Kenya is proud to be a founding and active member of the BRI and shares a common vision with China for the development and transformation of the country and the entire East African region.

To prove this, we proactively playing its part in the delivery of BRI through the ongoing modernization of the Port of Mombasa and the construction of the SGR.

With the leadership of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the government has now adopted a comprehensive Kenya investment policy to guide investment procedures and processes, both at national and county levels. We have also established a One-Stop Centre to facilitate ease of doing business including establishing and automating service delivery through innovative business platforms, E-Citizen, E-Regulations, iTax, Single Window Electronic Clearing System and Land Registry.

Remember during the second BRF summit in April, President Kenyatta invited Chinese investors to partner with the government and local entrepreneurs in setting up businesses in the various Special Economic Zones (EPZ) whose development is underway in parts of the country such as Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, Lamu, Kisumu and Naivasha.

The challenge remains the trade deficit and with the extensive consultation between Nairobi and Beijing, we will find ways to handle this so that we achieve a win-win situation.

Am optimistic that Kenya will continue to explore any opportunity with China to increase country’s exports to the Beijing country thus reducing the existing trade imbalance.

China Investment: In what areas will China and Kenya cooperate in the future and why? In your own opinion, what kind of Chinese experience can we learn from in terms of national development?

James Macharia:  With Beijing’s latest initiative is to link together two of its BRI and the FOCAC which have both listed science and technology as their core aims, challenges of technology might be things of the past to Kenya and even Africa as a whole. In other words, Kenya will broaden its cooperation with China in areas of technology and electric cars.

We are currently building what we refer as Konza Smart City in Nairobi. The idea is to make sure we have an integrated urban information and communication technology network. And Huawei is helping us in not only smart cities, but also the areas which we call the intelligent traffic system. They have come to help solve the problems of congestion in the city of Nairobi, and they are working to develop it.

For Africa to promote and achieve its Smart Africa Initiative which Kenya spearheads, there is a need to cooperate more with China which has shown interest to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure, accelerate the digital upgrading of various industries, and promote knowledge sharing and skills transfer.

It will help governments, private enterprises and industry partners to build “a better all-connected Africa” as a result make the digital economy a bridge connecting China and Africa.

There are many areas of learning which we have actually adopted the Chinese way of doing things. On top of development, you cannot have development without political stability. What China has is political stability, which we are learning from, because the projects we are talking about are long-term ones.

If you have short-term views and a changing political environment, you shall not succeed. That’s why we are looking at the Chinese model, whereby for 70 years they’ve been very consistent. So, you can plan your projects 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years in advance. The same thing with us. Only having five years and a changing political environment does not help.

⬆China
Investment Magazine special journalist  VICTOR ONYANGO(Right)
interviews with Mr.James Macharia(Left), Minister of Transport, Road,
Housing and Urban Development of Kenya

文 | 本刊特约记者 维克多·昂严戈（VICTOR ONYANGO） 肯尼亚《民族日报》记者

编辑 | 张梅

设计 | 李玉丹