Work on $1.5bn rail link starts

KENYA on Wednesday launched construction of a $1.5 billion (R20.8bn) railway project that would connect the capital to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, the country’s presidency said. The new Chinese-financed line being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation is an extension of a cross-country railway being constructed between the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and the capital Nairobi. That link is expected to reach Nairobi next year and open up to commercial services in mid-2017. “This will not only expand our factories but also create more jobs for our people,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said. The two projects make up the first stage in a scheme that aims to extend to Uganda and other land-locked countries. The goal is to cut the cost of transport and boost trade, by replacing a slower, narrow-gauge line.