Kenya to host Konza technocity's investors conference

The technology Park will be a prominent feature in the city

 THE KENYA GOVERNMENT  will host the first Konza city investors conference in August. The event will bring together 500 local and international investors in a three- day conference to discuss among others, the financing models of the city. Also to be discussed will be best practice cases.

Konza Techno City aims to catapult Kenya into an ICT giant by 2030. It will place Kenya firmly on the competition seat with such global BPO, KPO and ITO giants as India and China. Dubbed the  silicon Savannah of Africa, Konza ICT City is a green field project that will be home of Africa's Computerisation drive–something similar to Silicon Valley in the US.

The CBD: an impressive Skyline in the Middle of Savannah

 The 20-year project will be developed in four five-year phases for a total estimated cost of US$7 billion. The first phase will cost an estimated US$2.3 billion of which infrastructure will cost US$1 billion. The rest will be spent on the development broken under: the ICT Park US$200 million, Residential US$975 million and the Central Business District will cost US$125 million. Each phase will last five years.

The second phase will cost an estimated US$1.7 billion of which infrastructure will cost $400million; the residential area will cost US$850 million while the CBD will cost another $100 million while the BPO will take another $300 million. The university, which shall be built at this stage, will cost some $50 million.

The third phase will cost an estimated $2.1 billion of which infrastructure will consume $600 million. The BPO will cost another $400million, CBD $300 million, Science Park $100Million and Residential $700 million.

In the final phase, BPO will cost $450 million, residential $250 million, Science park $100million while infrastructure will cost $150 million, says an analysis posted on their website, www.konzacity.co.ke. At the end of it all, infrastructure will swallow an estimated $2.1 billion while other developed will cost some $4.8 billion.

 According to the same posting, there will be no land for sale to individuals. Instead, a Master Developer will construct the structures and lease them to investors. The aim is to eliminate speculators who could hoard the land and delay the development of the city.

There are three options to developing the city

:

• Single Private Master Developer undertakes the master planning of the entire property under Master Development Agreement and finances its development directly or through sub-developers. Government finances backbone infrastructure fully or partially.
• Government Authority finances backbone infrastructure and undertakes the master planning of the property, including attracting developers for specific land uses.
• Government contributes land to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to be established jointly with Private Master Developer.
  
  

These are the issues expected to be thrashed out at the investor conference in slightly over one month. According to the same posting, the return on leasing ranges between 12 and 15 per cent while capital gains rate is estimated at 20 per cent.

The Konza Techno city is located 60 KMs south west of Nairobi in Makueni County. It is connected to Nairobi by Mombasa Road and served by three high speed fibre optic networks. A high speed Railway link to Jomo Kenya international Airport, is also in the works.
 (Read http://eaers.blogspot.com/2012/02/kenya-rearing-to-launch-ict-city.html