Construction Begins on Kenyan Smart City
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The development of Konza Technology City – dubbed “Africa’s Silicon Savannah” – is finally underway, following a ground breaking ceremony by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on January 23, 2013.
Konza Technology City is a US$7-10.0 billion Greenfield project to be developed at a 5000 acre site at Konza, 60 kilometers south of Nairobi. This 20-year, four-phase development is a flagship project of Vision 2030, Kenya’s economic blueprint for attaining middle-income status by year 2030.
[marker address=”konza, kenya”]Konza, Kenya[/marker]
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Konza will be a planned smart city, complete with ICT parks focused on what the founders are calling “IT-Enabled Services (ITES)”. By this they mean to include “Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Software Development, Data Centers, Disaster Recovery Centers, and Call Centers”; light assembly manufacturing industries, residential, financial “and social amenities to provide a high quality of life”.
The first phase of development will take up 150 acres and lead to the construction of the “Business Pavilion”, which will host the Konza Master Plan Exhibition Hall and administrative offices.
Konza City will be managed by the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KOTDA).
To enable the implementation of the Konza City project, the Kenyan Government contracted the services of HR&A Advisors of New York in July 2012 . HR&A is serving as a Master Delivery Partner for six months, with the goal being to come up with a business development strategy detailing the vision of the proposed technology city. HR&A is also creating an implementation plan which includes these elements: Anchor Tenant Strategy, Physical Master Plan, Infrastructure Financing Plan, Business and Cash-Flow Plan and a Governance Plan for KOTDA. HR&A are set to finalize their contractual mandate in a few days.
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