Konza Technopolis phase one vertical infrastructure is 80 per cent complete, providing the essential amenities necessary for investors who have commenced construction works for their investments.
Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Eng. John Tanui, said that the vertical infrastructure comprise of the roads, water, electricity, solid waste system, and all the other amenities for a city and they have been constructed in a world class standard to ensure that the infrastructure is futuristic, resilient, sustainable and able to be a model for other developments in the country and beyond.
“We have some of the latest world class infrastructure at Konza, when we talk about roads, we are talking about streetscapes where we have additional facilities including cycling lanes, green spaces, allocation for internet cables, water pipes, waste water among others,” said Tanui.
Speaking on Monday, Tanui said that in the sewerage management, a latest technology which is called waste water reclamation facility has been deployed. This technology collects all the waste, treats it and reclaims over 95 per cent of the water for re-use because Konza Technopolis is a water scarce location.
“This is one of the first solid waste management system in the region, where waste is separated at source and using an automated vacuum system to collect the solids to one location, you separate the waste and channel it to the next process of recycling,” said Tanui.
“We have a research institute at the Technopolis currently under construction in partnership with the Ministry of Education. The institute will have students at masters and PHD levels and this will position Kenya as a regional hub for research and innovation,” said Tanui.
He pointed out that the Authority is working with the Ministry of Energy to install the 700 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) power substation, which is meant to supply enough power to support manufacturing at Konza.
“The Technopolis is expected to boost our GDP by 2%, currently our GDP is estimated to be 100 billion dollars and we are looking at Konza to contribute at least two billion dollars to the economy yearly,” he said.
Tanui said that the Technopolis is geared towards creating job opportunities dubbed (knowledge workers) and in Phase One they are looking at creating 17,000 jobs in high skilled labour and technology with other indirect job opportunities.
He also explained that in Phase One, the uptake by investors is 75 per cent and the spaces include areas to build residential houses, offices, manufacturing zones and all other things that are required in a city and a special economic zone.
The CEO highlighted that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are consulting for the establishment of the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, which is under construction and is expected to have the first student’s intake in the next one year.
“We are already hosting an operational national data centre at Konza Technopolis, making it very easy for public and private sector to run their e-platforms, websites and any other IT related software’s easily without investing a lot hence reducing the total cost of ownership,” said Tanui.
Government Spokesperson, Col. (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna, called on educational institutions to visit the Konza Technopolis and see the progress for learning purposes and for motivating the students, to take up courses in the technology space.
“The government has the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) and a visiting to Konza Technopolis should be one of the practical sessions to give students more exposure on skills requirements and the need to put in more efforts in their studies,” said Oguna