NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 17-Investors have taken up 72 percent of the land at Phase one of the Konza Technopolis project for development before its completion.
This represents 106 out of 147 land parcels demarcated for uptake by investors in Phase 1, which comprises 1,703 acres of land including wildlife and nature parks.
This comes at a time when the development of the phase’s horizontal infrastructure is set to be completed by the end of 2022.
The completion of the works, which entail the construction of streetscapes and drainage works, paves way for the vertical construction works to be undertaken by the private sector.
According to John Tanui, Chief Executive Officer, Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), the Authority is now focusing to complete the horizontal infrastructure which entails servicing the land parcels with key amenities.
“For the horizontal infrastructure, we expect within this year to move and reach over 95 percent. In 2021, we recorded over 70 percent completion and our focus is to complete this as we accelerate investor’s uptake,” said Tanui, who was speaking during an investor’s tour at Konza Technopolis.
Phase one of the Konza Technopolis project is designed as a mixed-use community, comprising of commercial, residential, public, and hospitality amenities.
Upon completion, Phase One is expected to attract 30,000 residents, 7,500 knowledge workers, and 16,700 other workers.
Speaking during the investor’s tour, Investor Mohammed Omar, Director at Odesey International Limited lauded the progress of the Technopolis, terming the ongoing works as a true reflection of the dream of a smart city in Kenya.
Omar also noted that the country had taken a good trajectory in developing other flagship projects such as Lamu Port and the New Kipevu Oil Terminal Project.
On his part, Mbugua Kamau, a real estate developer, who was part of the delegation noted that Konza Technopolis has made great progress in the last year, especially in the development of service tunnels and roads.
As part of its strategic priorities under the second strategic plan (2021-2025), Konza Technopolis Development Authority is actively engaging both local and international investors.
Private sector players are also taking up the offerings of Konza National Data Centre, which is offering cloud computing services to both private and public organizations.