Konza Technopolis

Last updated

Konza Technopolis
LocationMachakos/Makueni/Kajiado Buffer Zone
Coordinates 1°41′20″S37°11′06″E / 1.689°S 37.185°E / -1.689; 37.185
DeveloperHR&A Advisors, Inc
Construction costKshs 1.2 trillion
ArchitectSHoP Architects
Size2,000 ha (5,000 acres)
Website www.konza.go.ke

Konza Technopolis, previously called Konza Technology City, is a large technology hub planned by the government of Kenya to be built 64 km (39 mi) south of Nairobi on the way to the port city of Mombasa. [1] [2] It is marketed as a key driver of Kenya's national development plan, known as Kenya Vision 2030. As of January 2019, the project appeared to be far behind schedule. [3]

Contents

The plan

Konza Technopolis is a business process outsourcing (BPO) project that is being marketed by the Kenyan government through Kenya ICT Board. It is dubbed "where Africa's silicon savannah begins". [4] According to the Konza information website, the project wants to attract business process outsourcing, software development, data centres, disaster recovery centres, call centres and light assembly manufacturing industries; and build a university campus focused on research and technology as well as hotels, residential areas, schools and hospitals. [2] It is also intended to include a science park, a convention centre, shopping malls, hotels, international schools, and a health facility.

The project is intended to be built 64 km south of Nairobi on the way to the port city of Mombasa, on 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land spanning three counties namely Machakos County, Makueni County, and Kajiado County on a 10-kilometre radius buffer zone. [5] [6] [2] [7] It is estimated to cost 1.2 trillion Kenyan shillings (approx US$14.5bn). [1] It is marketed as a key driver of Kenya's national development plan, known as Kenya Vision 2030. [1] [2]

Design team

The Ministry of Information and Communications (Kenya) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) engaged Master Delivery Partner 1 (MDP1) to prepare a detailed business plan and master plan for Phase 1 in July 2012. The Expression of Interest for this assignment attracted 22 firm responses, narrowed to 6 in a shortlist. The Ministry and IFC selected the team led by HR&A Advisors, Inc. of New York City leading a 6-firm international team:

Development

Konza Technopolis was allowed by the Parliament Account Committee and endorsed by the Kenyan Government. [8]

The initial feasibility and concept master plan was prepared jointly by Deloitte and Pell Frischmann, a UK-based design consultancy and funded by the International Finance Corporation. [9] At that stage, the project brief was limited to a Technology Park of 280 ha (700 acres) with BPO/ IT businesses at its core. During the feasibility study, Pell Frischmann proposed a city—Konza Technology City, to make the technology park a more viable destination. The Kenyan government agreed and commissioned a new master plan for a city of 2,000 ha (5,000 acres) that was completed by Pell Frischmann. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Kenya</span>

Transport in Kenya refers to the transportation structure in Kenya. The country has an extensive network of paved and unpaved roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nairobi</span> Capital and largest city of Kenya

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper had a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census. The city is commonly referred to as The Green City in the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business process outsourcing in the Philippines</span> Overview of the process of outsourcing of various business processes

One of the most dynamic and fastest growing sectors in the Philippines is the information technology–business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry. The industry is composed of eight sub-sectors, namely, knowledge process outsourcing and back offices, animation, call centers, software development, game development, engineering design, and medical transcription. The IT-BPO industry plays a major role in the country's growth and development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Railways Corporation</span> State-owned Kenyan railway company

Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), also Kenya Railways (KR) is the national railway of Kenya. Established in 1977, KR is a state corporation.

Konza is a small town in Machakos County, Kenya. It is located 70 kilometres (43 mi) south-east of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. Machakos town, the county capital, is located 35 kilometres northeast of Konza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Vision 2030</span> Medium-term development programme in Kenya

Kenya Vision 2030 is a Kenyan development program, aiming to raise the average standard of living in Kenya to middle income by 2030. It was launched on 10 June 2008 by President Mwai Kibaki. Developed through "an all-inclusive and participatory stakeholder consultative process, involving Kenyans from all parts of the country," the Vision is based on three "pillars": Economic, Social, and Political. The Vision's adoption comes after the country's GDP growth went from 0.6% in 2002 to 6.1% in 2006, under Kibaki's Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS).

Gulf African Bank (GAB), whose full name is Gulf African Bank Limited, is a commercial bank in Kenya operating under an Islamic banking regime. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator.

Laila Macharia is a Kenyan lawyer, businesswoman, entrepreneur and angel investor based in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. She sits on the boards of a number of national, regional and international enterprises, including (a) Africa Digital Media Group (b) Absa Bank Kenya Plc and (c) Centum Investments.

iHub is an Innovation hub and hacker space for the technology community in Nairobi. It was started in March 2010 by Erik Hersman, a blogger, TED fellow, and entrepreneur and acquired by Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) in 2019. This coworking space, in Senteu Plaza at the junction of Lenana and Galana Roads, is a nexus for technologists, investors, young entrepreneurs, designers, researchers and programmers.

The real estate sector in Kenya has seen a boom that began somewhere in the mid to late 2000s because the property market is responding to increased demand.

The Multimedia University of Kenya (MMU) is a public university located in Nairobi. The university offers IT & related courses, Mass media, Business,Engineering and Social sciences education.

The Kenya–Uganda–Rwanda Petroleum Products Pipeline is a pipeline that carries refined petroleum products from the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to the country's capital of Nairobi and continues to the town of Eldoret in the Eastern Rift Valley. There are plans to extend the pipeline to Uganda's capital, Kampala, continuing on to Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

The Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway is a standard-gauge railway (SGR) in Kenya that connects the large Indian Ocean city of Mombasa with Nairobi, the country's capital and largest city. This SGR runs parallel to the narrow-gauge Uganda Railway that was completed in 1901 under British colonial rule. The East African Railway Master Plan provides for the Mombasa–Nairobi SGR to link with other SGRs being built in the East African Community.

Silicon Savannah is the technology ecosystem in Kenya. The term is a play on Silicon Valley and the grassland savanna ecosystem that is a dominant feature of Kenya's ecology. It is known for producing the social enterprise M-kopa.

The Mombasa–Nairobi Expressway or Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway, also known as the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway, is a proposed four-lane toll highway in Kenya. The highway will link Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya to Mombasa, the largest seaport of the country. The new highway is expected to cut travel times between the two cities from the current 6 to 10 hours to approximately four hours.

Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is a planned postgraduate-only public university under construction in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. The establishment of the university is aimed at meeting the shortage of highly skilled engineers, needed in the country and the region, to drive Kenya into an industrialized nation by 2030.

Kigali Innovation City (KIC) is a technology cluster planned for Kigali in Rwanda. The Government of Rwanda hopes to attract both domestic and foreign universities, technology companies and biotech firms, and have commercial and retail real estate. It is intended to be built on 70 hectares of land in Kigali's Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District.

Tatu City is a 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) special economic zone (SEZ) located 20 kilometres (12 mi) North of Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) in the Ruiru Municipality area of Kiambu County. It sits within the greater Nairobi Metropolitan region and is a flagship project of the Kenya Vision 2030 blueprint.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anderson, Mark (5 January 2015). "Kenya's tech entrepreneurs shun Konza 'silicon savannah'". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kenya begins construction of 'silicon' city Konza". BBC News . 23 January 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Kenya Struggles to Give Life to Futuristic 'Silicon Savannah' City | Voice of America – English". Voanews.com. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Konza City: Everything You Need to Know in 2022". Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "KONZA TECHNOCITY BUFFER ZONE EXTENT PER COUNTY" (PDF). Konza.go.ke. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Three counties commit to creation of buffer zone in Konza city". The-star.co.ke. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Charity Ngilu's Konza remarks raise storm – Daily Nation". Nation.co.ke.
  8. ↑ "Patrick Thuita; Construction News "Kenya to build sh1.2Trillion ICT PARK". Constructionkenya.com.
  9. ↑ "Pell Frischmann "Athi River SEZ, Kenya"". Peeefrischmann.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.