konza technology city

8/13/2019 Konza Technology City

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KONZA TECHNOLOGY CITYWhere Africa’s Silicon Savannah Begins...

Konza Technology City(KTC) embodies

Kenya’s Vision 2030, which aims at

improving the quality of life for citizens

of Kenya by transforming the employment

markets, enhancing social infrastructure

and securing good governance. Designed

to be a beacon of excellence for not only

Kenya but all of Africa, the city represents an

ambitious vision of a modern, inclusive and

sustainable Kenya. The Konza Technology

City is based on successful new townprojects around the world and draws on

international best practice to ensure global

competitiveness.

The Government of Kenya is tosponsor the development of new-towncatalysts and to launch East Africa intoGlobal Business Process Outsourcing.Building in a rapidly expanding demandfor providing top quality international

financial and business processservices, this undertaking will harnesstalent from a strong well-educated andhighly competitive local work force.

A few weeks ago the InternationalAirport in Kenya burnt down.Now the country needs a newInternational Airport, with an IndustrialTransportation Corridor airport, a

Merger city with a CommoditiesExchange, a FNZ InternationalExposition and meeting facility , aBULLET TRAIN, (HIGH SPEED RAIL

| May 16 2012 | FranTechnovation



www.frantechasia.com

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SYSTEM running from the FNZinternational airport into the NeutralZone Merger and Synergy City anda new Neutral Zone InternationalShopping Center.

The Government is proposing a $20billion innovative instrument for thefinancing of Africa’s infrastructure.The government said it has fast-tracked a legal framework tofacilitate the creation of the world-class Konza Technology City.

The 2,000 hectare city will belocated on a Greenfield site 60kmsouth of Nairobi. It is a locationwith excellent transport andcommunication links. The A109Highway connecting Nairobi withMombasa runs adjacent to thesite, the mainline Konza rail stationis less than 4km away and JomoKenyatta airport covers under50km.

The commercial engine of the newcity will be a cluster of technologybusinesses, financial services firmsand other enterprises. Konza willbe developed with world classinfrastructure, especially ICTinfrastructure, which will enablefirms located there to compete on aglobal stage.

Main Features of the KTC

High class shopping centers,sport, schools, cultural and leisurefacilities as well as amenities like adistrict hospital. Safe, well designedneighbourhoods, providing 35,000new homes for employees. Aradial road structure with the publictransport roads providing the

preferred means of access to allparts of the proposed city.

BPO Technopark easily accessibleto local residents expected to work

| May 16 2012 | FranTechnovation

there and also to employees livingoutside the Technology City. Asite for a university campus whichwill provide an area for academicbuildings, student residences andsports and leisure facilities forstudents. It is accessible and willassist in the cross-fertilization ofideas between the university andbusinesses on the site.

A central park is proposed to belaid out as a public park, providinga green lung for the residentsand workers. Green corridors areproposed along the alignment

of the watercourses which areprotected in the Plan. This will helpavoid flood risk to the new buildingsand also provide additional openspace. These could also serve asecological corridors through thesite.

The Konza Road is proposed to bepaved to provide easy access for

all vehicular traffic. A “Greenbelt”control zone of approximately2 km is proposed around thesite to protect the setting of theTechnology City and guard againstthe development of informalsettlements on the boundary ofthe site; to reserve land for thepossible future expansion ofthe Technopolis; and to institute

rigorous control of development inthe area around the site.

Wastewater will be collected ina network of sewers, separatefrom the surface water (i.e.Rainfall) drainage system. Theexisting topography facilitates agravity driven sewerage systemfollowing ground contours toa wastewater treatment works

located at the southwesterncorner of the development area.Flood lagoons, placed at strategiclocations on the dry rivers, will




control the rate of flow in therivers, improving flow efficiencyand reducing the risk of scarring inflood conditions. The strategy forsolid waste management is basedupon principles of sustainabledevelopment and the protection ofhuman health and the environmentby producing less waste and byusing it as a resource whereverpossible. Sustainable wastemanagement aims to apply the‘waste hierarchy’ of reduction,re-use, recycling and composting(to use waste as a source ofenergy) and only disposing as a

last resort.

A Strategic Environmental andSocial Assessment (SESA) hasbeen undertaken based on theguidance provided by the NationalEnvironment Management Authority(NEMA) and International FinanceCorporation (IFC) to evaluate theimpact of the proposed Konza

Technology City, recommendappropriate mitigation and assess

legal and institutional aspectsrelevant to the impacts and risks.The SESA is based on a master-plan for 80,000 jobs.It is proposed that this be increasedto 175,000 jobs in which case arevised assessment will be needed.

A significant challenge however,is the large increase in thedemand for water resources; thearea already experiences watershortages with demand outstrippingsupply. With no feasible on-sitesources, water will need to besourced from offsite.

Within the development itself, astate-of-the-art access networkwill comprise four exchanges,linked by dual redundant fiber opticnetworks, distributing outwards viastar-configuration fiber optic cables.This network will offer a complete

modern telecommunicationspackage of high-speed internet,telephony and video services.




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Appropriate distribution substations,transformers and ring mains will bedistributed across the site in orderto adequately and securely meetdemand.

The Konza Technology Cityproject has potential significantlong term positive impacts interms of providing direct job andtraining opportunities as well asthe stimulation of economic activityin the surrounding area and thedistrict as a whole. KTC is designedto allow phased developmentwhich will permit rapid growth whileensuring that the civic amenitiesand infrastructure grow with thepopulation’s needs.

KTC presents a promisingopportunity for Kenya to develop analternative and complimentary pathfor economic development in linewith Vision 2030 by exploiting ITESand IT Products in the ICT Park1.

Konza also provides an opportunityas noted in the comparatorcountries to transform the country

| June 2012 | FranTechnovation

into a knowledge economy. Thus,this is a policy driven initiative asa tool for job creation, nationaltransformation to launch the countryto new frontiers. The governmentwill aim to structure the project soas to recoup as much as possibleof this initial investment funding inlater phases.

The Government intends to setup the project under a SpecialEconomic Zones (SEZ) program,currently being formulated by aninter-ministerial team.With regardto the development of SEZ land, it

will be necessary to harmonize thephysical planning laws and the SEZlaw to ensure that the objectivesof the SEZ policy are taken intoaccount in developing regional andlocal development plans and ingranting development approvals. Itwill also be important to harmonizethe roles of the different regulatorsinvolved in this process (such as

the local authorities, the physicalplanning department and theCommissioner of Lands).

konza technology city

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