French Minister Franck Riester in Nigeria for a progress report on major projects
Minister Franck Riester, October 2, 2019 in Paris.
© AFP / LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Franck Riester continues his African tour.
After Uganda and Rwanda, the French Minister Delegate in charge of Foreign Trade landed in Nairobi, Kenya for a 48-hour visit.
He is traveling as President Macron's special envoy and must, as such, be received this morning by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
At the heart of their discussions: take stock of the progress of the agreements concluded last year between the French and Kenyan presidents on several large infrastructure projects.
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The most important project concerns the development and management over thirty years of the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway. A gigantic public-private partnership for which the fundraising, around one billion euros, is in the process of being finalized but is slightly behind schedule. “Donors have strict requirements,” says one observer. However, Kenya does not hide a certain "
impatience
". Paris therefore reassures its partner on this central issue in the France-Kenya relationship. The goal is to start work in early 2022.
The second project which will be at the heart of the discussions is more thorny.
It concerns the extension of line 4 of the Nairobi metro to Jomo-Kenyatta airport.
The financial protocol was signed last year but since then the file has hardly advanced.
At issue: certain constraints related to Kenyan legislation on taxes which are slow to be resolved.
“
Kenya could have been a little more helpful,
” said one observer.
Especially since at the same time the Chinese "alternative" expressway project, which should also make it possible to link the city center to the airport, has made good progress.
Franck Riester will also be accompanied by around thirty representatives of French companies, whose objective will be to position themselves on the Kenyan market, perceived as one of the most promising in East Africa.
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