The Economic Implications of Belt and Road Initiative in the Development of Railway Transport Infrastructure in Africa: The Case of the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential economic benefits the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) may bring to Kenya. This will contribute to the ongoing debate on whether Chinese investments on BRI infrastructure projects in Africa are mutually beneficial or not. The key issues discussed include the economic benefits of SGR in Kenya, the economic risks or challenges of SGR given the emergent issues of debt burden in Kenya and how China and Kenya would engage in the future to deepen Sino-Africa relations in BRI projects especially transport infrastructure. The paper relies on secondary information from available published literature on railway transport infrastructure in Africa with specific reference to SGR in Kenya. Information from key informants drawn from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the United States University based in Nairobi was used to enrich literature review. The main findings of the paper are: (1) SGR will lead to socio-economic development of the country (2) it will contribute revenue to the Government through the railway development levy levied on containerized transportation from the port of Mombasa, and (3) will boost trade and regional integration through better rail connectivity. To make BRI projects more transparent, it is recommended that there is need for more stakeholder engagement in these projects. It is also recommended that the funding mechanism should be reviewed to make borrowing more affordable.