Look like SGR to Kisumu & malaba - aint happenning soon.

[Nefertiti]

Too much discussion on this SGR issue.
The main thing here is Uhuru and his buddies saw a chance to make billions on kickbacks through this project. It was not thought through properly from day one. That is why the train stations are so far from the town centres. Even the Nairobi-Naivasha stretch is just another crazy idea. Now Kenyans paying 150B Ksh for a railway to nowhere.

SGR was Ruto's plan per URP manifesto. Why it was rolled out pap! Kusema na Kutender. UK made it his baby and took off with the loot. Most TNA ideas never saw the light of day.. heard of the kindles lately?

[Nefertiti]

Wapi Pundit? hii bulk cargo must be mursik from Bomet.

[MOON Ki]

Too much discussion on this SGR issue.
The main thing here is Uhuru and his buddies saw a chance to make billions on kickbacks through this project. It was not thought through properly from day one. That is why the train stations are so far from the town centres. Even the Nairobi-Naivasha stretch is just another crazy idea. Now Kenyans paying 150B Ksh for a railway to nowhere.

The SGR is important because it is Exhibit A in huge case of criminal mischief and idiocy.   Just think of all the "Vision 2030" projects.   How much money went in, and what did Kenyans get in return?

And even outside The Vision, there are other shocking examples: Building a wall between Kenya and Somalia?  Seriously?   How much would even a fence cost, and how long would it take?   Forget a fence.  How about just a modest ditch?

The "railway to nowhere" is amusing.   According to the Transportation (or whatever) Secretary, GoK will now clear the bats out of old railway stations between Naivasha and Kisumu/Malaba; remove the weeds from the old railway line and spruce it up a bit; and then move stuff from the SGR to the old line.   Oh, there's one awkward bit: the distance from the new line to the old one is around 50km.   So, another rail, or trucks to shuttle back and forth?   

[Kadudu]

Another good example is BRT for Nairobi. Even before anything is planned roads are being painted red and months later nothing has happened. Did the CS's buddy have too much paint which he sold to the ministry? We were told BRT busses were on the way from RSA and months later no bus insight. Now the BRT infrastructure is not even on paper and busses are being imported.
Dar es Salaam started planning BRT in 2007 and the first line was inaugrated in 2016.

And even outside The Vision, there are other shocking examples: Building a wall between Kenya and Somalia?  Seriously?   How much would even a fence cost, and how long would it take?   Forget a fence.  How about just a modest ditch?

[RV Pundit]

Useless back n forth.We had to build a new or greenfield sgr because WB had locked our mgr in 25 yr complex concession with RVR. Now that RVR is out, the old MGR is in play. Railways except light rails are not good with passengers or containers.They are great for bulk cargo.SGR start transporting bulk cargo the last Q...and we can expect profitability on that segment because rails can do up to 70 tonnes while roads max out at 30.We are talking clinker, cement, cereals,minerals etc.We definitely need more railways..esp modern Nairobi light rail.That should cost around 1B dollars.Uhuru need to embark on that...as we wait for Uganda to commit.

[vooke]

Useless back n forth.We had to build a new or greenfield sgr because WB had locked our mgr in 25 yr complex concession with RVR. Now that RVR is out, the old MGR is in play. Railways except light rails are not good with passengers or containers.They are great for bulk cargo.SGR start transporting bulk cargo the last Q...and we can expect profitability on that segment because rails can do up to 70 tonnes while roads max out at 30.We are talking clinker, cement, cereals,minerals etc.We definitely need more railways..esp modern Nairobi light rail.That should cost around 1B dollars.Uhuru need to embark on that...as we wait for Uganda to commit.

[RV Pundit]

Useless back n forth.We had to build a new or greenfield sgr because WB had locked our mgr in 25 yr complex concession with RVR. Now that RVR is out, the old MGR is in play. Railways except light rails are not good with passengers or containers.They are great for bulk cargo.SGR start transporting bulk cargo the last Q...and we can expect profitability on that segment because rails can do up to 70 tonnes while roads max out at 30.We are talking clinker, cement, cereals,minerals etc.We definitely need more railways..esp modern Nairobi light rail.That should cost around 1B dollars.Uhuru need to embark on that...as we wait for Uganda to commit.

Everyone is on SGR... Standardized... coz nobody is making rolling stock for mgr...how obtuse can some of you be.MGR was built by Brits 120yrs when Kenya was about 1m and GDP about nothing.Argue about other stuff...solid infrastructure like sgr will Outlast you grand kids

[vooke]

Useless back n forth.We had to build a new or greenfield sgr because WB had locked our mgr in 25 yr complex concession with RVR. Now that RVR is out, the old MGR is in play. Railways except light rails are not good with passengers or containers.They are great for bulk cargo.SGR start transporting bulk cargo the last Q...and we can expect profitability on that segment because rails can do up to 70 tonnes while roads max out at 30.We are talking clinker, cement, cereals,minerals etc.We definitely need more railways..esp modern Nairobi light rail.That should cost around 1B dollars.Uhuru need to embark on that...as we wait for Uganda to commit.

Everyone is on SGR... Standardized... coz nobody is making rolling stock for mgr...how obtuse can some of you be.MGR was built by Brits 120yrs when Kenya was about 1m and GDP about nothing.Argue about other stuff...solid infrastructure like sgr will Outlast you grand kids

[GeeMail]

Digital silk road to oppression has run into headwinds. Kenyan briefcase churches preaching against this evil with gusto.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/01/22/we-need-to-get-smart-about-how-governments-use-ai-pub-78179

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-05/16/content_29372143.htm

[Nefertiti]

Digital silk road to oppression has run into headwinds. Kenyan briefcase churches preaching against this evil with gusto.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/01/22/we-need-to-get-smart-about-how-governments-use-ai-pub-78179

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-05/16/content_29372143.htm

Ha ha. RV Pundit - when noone but you sees the magic must you wonder why.

[RV Pundit]

Didn't read the link. But Huwaei investing 17B in Konza is great news. If Koreans put their money down - too - Konza could get off grounds. I have dealt with your kind of negativos for 20yrs - people who enjoy bad news about kenya - and want to deride kenya progess - during that time - kenya GDP has nearly grown 10 times - as their gripe has also grown ten times - still waiting for Raila to become PORK.

Digital silk road to oppression has run into headwinds. Kenyan briefcase churches preaching against this evil with gusto.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/01/22/we-need-to-get-smart-about-how-governments-use-ai-pub-78179

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-05/16/content_29372143.htm

Ha ha. RV Pundit - when noone but you sees the magic must you wonder why.

[MOON Ki]

Didn't read the link. But Huwaei investing 17B in Konza is great news. If Koreans put their money down - too - Konza could get off grounds. I have dealt with your kind of negativos for 20yrs - people who enjoy bad news about kenya - and want to deride kenya progess - during that time - kenya GDP has nearly grown 10 times - as their gripe has also grown ten times - still waiting for Raila to become PORK.

No need to get emotional; try to consider things independently of Raila and the usual nonsensical politics.   

The story of Konza City has been going on for how long?   How much progress has been made on the "Lego-land" Fantastic City (see images and descriptions on Google)?   Silicon Savanah and what-not.   Looking at the Konza city webpages, the only thing that seems to change is the list of tenders on the right.

Konza City is dumb for a variety of reasons, starting with "build, and they will come".   (The lessons on that will be learned the hard way,  when nobody serious  shows up on that dusty patch in Nowhere).   And then there's the endless "planning" and "tendering" and "this will be done by <insert-date>" ...

Here's some progress for you :-)

2015:

2017:

2018:

And so on ...  And this is just the first building.

Korea, China, blah-blah?   Look, everyone out there knows that nothing serious can be done in a country where the focus of the leaders in on robbing the public, and the focus on the followers is "our man".   Sure, there will be money coming into Kenya, but that''s only because some money should (supposedly) come into Africa, and Kenya is, arguably, the best of a bad lot.   The kind of money some Kenyans are so excited about is pocket-change to the source and increasingly not that big even in Kenya.   

Remember that 700km wall that turned into a 700km fence that turned into a 10km fence (which cost of US$ 35 million)?  All of which has already been forgotten.   As have been the plans to use revolutionize healthcare delivery through "mobile units" that turned out to be useless containers.   As have been ...  That's Our Great Country. 

[Nefertiti]

But usually you have a few sidekicks. SGR even vooke the priest, GeeMail, patel the new Ruto disciples don't see your 50-100yr vision.

Didn't read the link. But Huwaei investing 17B in Konza is great news. If Koreans put their money down - too - Konza could get off grounds. I have dealt with your kind of negativos for 20yrs - people who enjoy bad news about kenya - and want to deride kenya progess - during that time - kenya GDP has nearly grown 10 times - as their gripe has also grown ten times - still waiting for Raila to become PORK.

Digital silk road to oppression has run into headwinds. Kenyan briefcase churches preaching against this evil with gusto.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/01/22/we-need-to-get-smart-about-how-governments-use-ai-pub-78179

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-05/16/content_29372143.htm

Ha ha. RV Pundit - when noone but you sees the magic must you wonder why.

[RV Pundit]

The soundness of arguments sway me; not the number of people supporting xyz.

But usually you have a few sidekicks. SGR even vooke the priest, GeeMail, patel the new Ruto disciples don't see your 50-100yr vision.

[RV Pundit]

Thanks to visionary like Ndemo - Kenya ICT sector is now attracting more investment - than any in Africa. Last year they tracked nearly 40B kshs worth of deals. All this started when small talk of Silicon Savanah. If you go back 10yrs - you're talking about 3-4B dollars worth of FDI flowing to the sector.

As regard to Konza - there has been progress -  at least on horizontal infrastructure ---- and we have two firm commitments - from KASIT of South Korea (10B or about) to build a science and tech college - and from Huwaei now (17B).

Outside Egypt and Rwanda - nobody else is building a techno city - and we know we are right inside a tech revolution.

We need to invest more into Konza - the locaton isn't ideal - but it's a futuristic idea - just like Lapset.

Didn't read the link. But Huwaei investing 17B in Konza is great news. If Koreans put their money down - too - Konza could get off grounds. I have dealt with your kind of negativos for 20yrs - people who enjoy bad news about kenya - and want to deride kenya progess - during that time - kenya GDP has nearly grown 10 times - as their gripe has also grown ten times - still waiting for Raila to become PORK.

No need to get emotional; try to consider things independently of Raila and the usual nonsensical politics.   

The story of Konza City has been going on for how long?   How much progress has been made on the "Lego-land" Fantastic City (see images and descriptions on Google)?   Silicon Savanah and what-not.   Looking at the Konza city webpages, the only thing that seems to change is the list of tenders on the right.

Konza City is dumb for a variety of reasons, starting with "build, and they will come".   (The lessons on that will be learned the hard way,  when nobody serious  shows up on that dusty patch in Nowhere).   And then there's the endless "planning" and "tendering" and "this will be done by <insert-date>" ...

Here's some progress for you :-)

2015:

2017:

2018:

And so on ...  And this is just the first building.

Korea, China, blah-blah?   Look, everyone out there knows that nothing serious can be done in a country where the focus of the leaders in on robbing the public, and the focus on the followers is "our man".   Sure, there will be money coming into Kenya, but that''s only because some money should (supposedly) come into Africa, and Kenya is, arguably, the best of a bad lot.   The kind of money some Kenyans are so excited about is pocket-change to the source and increasingly not that big even in Kenya.   

Remember that 700km wall that turned into a 700km fence that turned into a 10km fence (which cost of US$ 35 million)?  All of which has already been forgotten.   As have been the plans to use revolutionize healthcare delivery through "mobile units" that turned out to be useless containers.   As have been ...  That's Our Great Country. 

[vooke]

Thanks to visionary like Ndemo - Kenya ICT sector is now attracting more investment - than any in Africa. Last year they tracked nearly 40B kshs worth of deals. All this started when small talk of Silicon Savanah. If you go back 10yrs - you're talking about 3-4B dollars worth of FDI flowing to the sector.

As regard to Konza - there has been progress -  at least on horizontal infrastructure ---- and we have two firm commitments - from KASIT of South Korea (10B or about) to build a science and tech college - and from Huwaei now (17B).

Outside Egypt and Rwanda - nobody else is building a techno city - and we know we are right inside a tech revolution.

We need to invest more into Konza - the locaton isn't ideal - but it's a futuristic idea - just like Lapset.

Didn't read the link. But Huwaei investing 17B in Konza is great news. If Koreans put their money down - too - Konza could get off grounds. I have dealt with your kind of negativos for 20yrs - people who enjoy bad news about kenya - and want to deride kenya progess - during that time - kenya GDP has nearly grown 10 times - as their gripe has also grown ten times - still waiting for Raila to become PORK.

No need to get emotional; try to consider things independently of Raila and the usual nonsensical politics.   

The story of Konza City has been going on for how long?   How much progress has been made on the "Lego-land" Fantastic City (see images and descriptions on Google)?   Silicon Savanah and what-not.   Looking at the Konza city webpages, the only thing that seems to change is the list of tenders on the right.

Konza City is dumb for a variety of reasons, starting with "build, and they will come".   (The lessons on that will be learned the hard way,  when nobody serious  shows up on that dusty patch in Nowhere).   And then there's the endless "planning" and "tendering" and "this will be done by <insert-date>" ...

Here's some progress for you :-)

2015:

2017:

2018:

And so on ...  And this is just the first building.

Korea, China, blah-blah?   Look, everyone out there knows that nothing serious can be done in a country where the focus of the leaders in on robbing the public, and the focus on the followers is "our man".   Sure, there will be money coming into Kenya, but that''s only because some money should (supposedly) come into Africa, and Kenya is, arguably, the best of a bad lot.   The kind of money some Kenyans are so excited about is pocket-change to the source and increasingly not that big even in Kenya.   

Remember that 700km wall that turned into a 700km fence that turned into a 10km fence (which cost of US$ 35 million)?  All of which has already been forgotten.   As have been the plans to use revolutionize healthcare delivery through "mobile units" that turned out to be useless containers.   As have been ...  That's Our Great Country. 

[RV Pundit]

You've never heard of economies of locations? Why is Silicon valley, Raleigh, Bangalore and even Dubai attracting more tech investment and all the random cities with random companies. Konza once it get off ground - and it will - will bring the economies of scale/locations - that will make it the Silicon valley of Africa. We just need to invest more on this. But we cannot without likes of Ndemo - visionaries who can see 30-50yrs from now. Not most of your with your tunnel vision.

[MOON Ki]

If you go back 10yrs - you're talking about 3-4B dollars worth of FDI flowing to the sector.

I assume the number is over 10 years, in which case, like I said "some money should (supposedly) come into Africa, and Kenya is, arguably, the best of a bad lot".    Overall, Kenya's attraction of FDI is, as Trump would say, "sad!".   

As regard to Konza - there has been progress -  at least on horizontal infrastructure ---- and we have two firm commitments - from KASIT of South Korea (10B or about) to build a science and tech college - and from Huwaei now (17B).

Wow, wow, wow!  Slow down there, buddy.   The "firm commitment" from KAIST is---all "10B or about"---is actually (usual story) a loan to Kenya  (from the Korean Exim Bank).   Has the agreement on that loan been signed?   Once the agreement is signed, I'm sure the KAIST types will be more than happy to enjoy some of their own money.  One thing we can be sure of is that KAIST will not " build a science and tech college".  That will be up to Kenyans to do with the loan.   And there ends my confidence in "great things just around corner".

I don't as yet know much about the Huawei deal, but "firm commitments" on paper and for photo-ops are sometimes different from rea; firm commitments.

Outside Egypt and Rwanda - nobody else is building a techno city - and we know we are right inside a tech revolution.

Only three of us are doing it, so it must be a revolution.   Strange logic.

We need to invest more into Konza - the location isn't ideal - but it's a futuristic idea - just like Lapset.

Location tends to matter quite a bit with such things. 

[Nefertiti]

Kenya's problems begin with the inability to self-build even a minor bridge without China cause 80% of the money will be stolen.

[RV Pundit]

Nitpicking as usual. We are in tech revolution that is akin to industrial one - and Konza is a long term vision; already we've turned a desolate desert into a promised land. We have two comittment or investment from KAIST and Huwaei - once we get a few more - Konza will get the momentum it needs.

If you go back 10yrs - you're talking about 3-4B dollars worth of FDI flowing to the sector.

I assume the number is over 10 years, in which case, like I said "some money should (supposedly) come into Africa, and Kenya is, arguably, the best of a bad lot".    Overall, Kenya's attraction of FDI is, as Trump would say, "sad!".   

As regard to Konza - there has been progress -  at least on horizontal infrastructure ---- and we have two firm commitments - from KASIT of South Korea (10B or about) to build a science and tech college - and from Huwaei now (17B).

Wow, wow, wow!  Slow down there, buddy.   The "firm commitment" from KAIST is---all "10B or about"---is actually (usual story) a loan to Kenya  (from the Korean Exim Bank).   Has the agreement on that loan been signed?   Once the agreement is signed, I'm sure the KAIST types will be more than happy to enjoy some of their own money.  One thing we can be sure of is that KAIST will not " build a science and tech college".  That will be up to Kenyans to do with the loan.   And there ends my confidence in "great things just around corner".

I don't as yet know much about the Huawei deal, but "firm commitments" on paper and for photo-ops are sometimes different from rea; firm commitments.

Outside Egypt and Rwanda - nobody else is building a techno city - and we know we are right inside a tech revolution.

Only three of us are doing it, so it must be a revolution.   Strange logic.

We need to invest more into Konza - the location isn't ideal - but it's a futuristic idea - just like Lapset.

Location tends to matter quite a bit with such things.