Where Africas Silicon Savannah Begins...

KONZA TECHNOLOGY CITY

onza Technology City(KTC) embodies Kenyas 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 town projects around the world and draws on international best practice to ensure global competitiveness.

The Government of Kenya is to sponsor the development of new-town catalysts and to launch East Africa into Global Business Process Outsourcing. Building in a rapidly expanding demand for providing top quality international financial and business process services, this undertaking will harness talent from a strong well-educated and highly competitive local work force. A few weeks ago the International Airport in Kenya burnt down. Now the country needs a new International Airport, with an Industrial Transportation Corridor airport, a Merger city with a Commodities Exchange, a FNZ International Exposition and meeting facility , a BULLET TRAIN, (HIGH SPEED RAIL
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SYSTEM running from the FNZ international airport into the Neutral Zone Merger and Synergy City and a new Neutral Zone International Shopping Center. The Government is proposing a $20 billion innovative instrument for the financing of Africas infrastructure. The government said it has fasttracked a legal framework to facilitate the creation of the worldclass Konza Technology City. The 2,000 hectare city will be located on a Greenfield site 60km south of Nairobi. It is a location with excellent transport and communication links. The A109 Highway connecting Nairobi with Mombasa runs adjacent to the site, the mainline Konza rail station is less than 4km away and Jomo Kenyatta airport covers under 50km. The commercial engine of the new city will be a cluster of technology businesses, financial services firms and other enterprises. Konza will be developed with world class infrastructure, especially ICT infrastructure, which will enable firms located there to compete on a global stage.

there and also to employees living outside the Technology City. A site for a university campus which will provide an area for academic buildings, student residences and sports and leisure facilities for students. It is accessible and will assist in the cross-fertilization of ideas between the university and businesses on the site.

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A central park is proposed to be laid out as a public park, providing a green lung for the residents and workers. Green corridors are proposed along the alignment of the watercourses which are protected in the Plan. This will help avoid flood risk to the new buildings and also provide additional open space. These could also serve as ecological corridors through the site. The Konza Road is proposed to be paved to provide easy access for all vehicular traffic. A Greenbelt control zone of approximately 2 km is proposed around the site to protect the setting of the Technology City and guard against the development of informal settlements on the boundary of the site; to reserve land for the possible future expansion of the Technopolis; and to institute rigorous control of development in the area around the site. Wastewater will be collected in a network of sewers, separate from the surface water (i.e. Rainfall) drainage system. The existing topography facilitates a gravity driven sewerage system following ground contours to a wastewater treatment works located at the southwestern corner of the development area. Flood lagoons, placed at strategic locations on the dry rivers, will

Main Features of the KTC

High class shopping centers, sport, schools, cultural and leisure facilities as well as amenities like a district hospital. Safe, well designed neighbourhoods, providing 35,000 new homes for employees. A radial road structure with the public transport roads providing the preferred means of access to all parts of the proposed city. BPO Technopark easily accessible to local residents expected to work | May 16 2012 | FranTechnovation

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control the rate of flow in the rivers, improving flow efficiency and reducing the risk of scarring in flood conditions. The strategy for solid waste management is based upon principles of sustainable development and the protection of human health and the environment by producing less waste and by using it as a resource wherever possible. Sustainable waste management aims to apply the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use, recycling and composting (to use waste as a source of energy) and only disposing as a last resort. A Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) has been undertaken based on the guidance provided by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to evaluate the impact of the proposed Konza Technology City, recommend appropriate mitigation and assess

legal and institutional aspects relevant to the impacts and risks. The SESA is based on a masterplan for 80,000 jobs. It is proposed that this be increased to 175,000 jobs in which case a revised assessment will be needed. A significant challenge however, is the large increase in the demand for water resources; the area already experiences water shortages with demand outstripping supply. With no feasible on-site sources, water will need to be sourced from offsite.

Within the development itself, a state-of-the-art access network will comprise four exchanges, linked by dual redundant fiber optic networks, distributing outwards via star-configuration fiber optic cables. This network will offer a complete modern telecommunications package of high-speed internet, telephony and video services.

Appropriate distribution substations, transformers and ring mains will be distributed across the site in order to adequately and securely meet demand. The Konza Technology City project has potential significant long term positive impacts in terms of providing direct job and training opportunities as well as the stimulation of economic activity in the surrounding area and the district as a whole. KTC is designed to allow phased development which will permit rapid growth while ensuring that the civic amenities and infrastructure grow with the populations needs. KTC presents a promising opportunity for Kenya to develop an alternative and complimentary path for economic development in line with Vision 2030 by exploiting ITES and IT Products in the ICT Park1. Konza also provides an opportunity as noted in the comparator countries to transform the country

into a knowledge economy. Thus, this is a policy driven initiative as a tool for job creation, national transformation to launch the country to new frontiers. The government will aim to structure the project so as to recoup as much as possible of this initial investment funding in later phases. The Government intends to set up the project under a Special Economic Zones (SEZ) program, currently being formulated by an inter-ministerial team.With regard to the development of SEZ land, it will be necessary to harmonize the physical planning laws and the SEZ law to ensure that the objectives of the SEZ policy are taken into account in developing regional and local development plans and in granting development approvals. It will also be important to harmonize the roles of the different regulators involved in this process (such as the local authorities, the physical planning department and the Commissioner of Lands).

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| June 2012 | FranTechnovation