Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki will preside over a ceremony next week to break ground on a new US$14,5bn technology town called Konza City.
Konza City will consist of facilities meant to attract business process outsourcing ventures. The Kenyan government wants to attract international technology companies to invest in the facilities, which will consist of a convention centre, a science park, hotels and shopping centres spread across a 5 000 acre site 60km south of Nairobi, the East African country’s capital.
Information minister Samuel Poghisio this week appointed directors ahead of hiring a CEO and executive team. Investment banker John Ngumi, who was appointed by Kibaki in December, will chair the board.
Konza City promotional video:
Konza Technology City from Urban Graphics on Vimeo.
The project is based on a private-public partnership financing model and will be carried out in four phases of five years each.
The first phase of the project has attracted 14 IT companies so far. The Kenyan government will provide infrastructure like roads and electricity for the project, while a developer will be tasked with building and selling premises to investors. Source: Business Daily
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