Kenya has officially opened bidding for the construction of a new port at Lamu. Kenya's transport ministry published a formal letter in the country's Daily Nation newspaper last month inviting international companies to bid on the initial phase of construction for the proposed US$3.5 billion (Dh12.85bn) project. UAE contractors are expected to be among the bidders.
Kenya is keen to extend business relations and provide investment opportunities to UAE concerns. Najib Balala, the east African country's tourism minister, has courted investment from the UAE to develop Kenya's infrastructure to increase the number of visitors from the Middle East. The minister has laid out a three-year tourism plan in which the UAE is expected to play an integral role.
"Investors from the UAE, especially Dubai, are crucial for the Kenya tourism industry. We believe the UAE is looking for opportunities to expand its businesses into newer markets, and we want to position ourselves as prime candidates," Mr Balala said. "One of our main projects is to launch a budget [airline], and we are keen to partner with investors from the UAE." The minister believes that Kenya will be ready next year to attract key players from the UAE hospitality industry, such as the Jumeirah Group and Rotana. They will be enticed with tax breaks and a streamlined land acquisition process so they can build state-of-the-art resort cities. The improvements are considered critical to the expansion of Kenya's GDP, 12 per cent of which comes from tourism.
An Arab-African forum has been inaugurated "to take advantage of the infrastructural development in the two regions". The Federation of African and Arab Consultants, which was established last year, has declared its interest is to participate in technology transfer and assist in enabling African governments to exploit opportunities in sectors such as energy, tourism and the environment. The Lamu port facility is part of Kenya's Vision 2030, an ambitious development plan that aims to make Kenya a "rapidly industrialising middle-income" nation by the year 2030. The tourism ministry's newspaper advertisement said the initial phase would involve construction of three berths at Manda Bay, Lamu, to support large container vessels, and general and bulk cargo ships.
The request included proposals for access roads, railway sidings, warehouses and additional infrastructure to support the facility. The project also includes plans for an international airport, an oil pipeline and refinery, and resort cities to support additional tourism. Planners hope the new port will cement Kenya's status as a major transport and shipping hub in east Africa. Kenya Vision 2030 is a development blueprint starting from 2008. The plan envisions three principal kinds of advancement: economic, social and political.
The economic component aims to provide prosperity of all Kenyans through a development programme aimed at achieving average GDP growth of 10 per cent a year over the next 25 years. Kenya Vision 2030 is to be implemented in successive five-year plans, with the first covering the period 2008-2012. Leisure and residential tourism projects are at the centre of this umbrella plan. About 10 per cent of Kenya's formal workforce is employed in tourism. Kenya's visitor numbers this year are on course to be the best yet, at 1 million, and have recovered to levels prevailing before the civil conflict in 2008.
The hotelier Alnoor Kanji says Kenya has all the ingredients to be the economic leader for east Africa. "The citizens are well educated and almost everyone speaks English," he says. "There's a very strong middle and upper class who are international in their thinking. What's let Kenya, and Africa, down in the past is its governance. But the new generation of politicians is changing the culture, slowly but surely."
Mr Kanji and his brother Amyn have launched EnglishPoint Marina, a resort in the making in Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean. The contemporary-looking development, being built at a cost of more than $400 million, will be home to 106 stylish apartments, set in four low-rise pods, a boutique hotel of 23 rooms and three suites, a full marina, restaurant, cinema and retail boutiques. EnglishPoint, which will be the first mixed-use, residential marina development in the region, is a genuine five-star development and the sort of project that Kenya Vision 2030 prescribes to lift the country's tourism standing. EnglishPoint will occupy an elevated position on a creek above one of the few beaches on a 1.6km-long waterway. The site is opposite the mainly Portuguese colonial skyline of Mombasa's old town.
As planned, the resort subscribes to the environmental commitment in Kenya Vision 2030. All grey and even black water will be treated on-site for reuse in the apartments' toilets and washing machines. Low-flush toilets and air-flow taps will reduce water consumption. The gardens will be irrigated from recycled water only. Even water generated from the airconditioning units will be captured and reused for irrigation.
"We have a responsibility to develop responsibly and to be mindful of our environmental impact," Mr Kanji says. "We are raising the bar on a quality, environmental and lifestyle level for not only Mombasa but for the whole region. There's nothing on the scale and quality of EnglishPoint Marina, with boating facilities, on the east coast of Africa. We are creating a genuine international-standard destination resort."
The resort is also raising the price bar for the region. The spacious three-bedroom and two or three-bathroom apartments - minimum size 154 square metres - are priced from £300,000 (Dh1.7m). At nearly £2,000 a sq metre, this is one third higher than the average for an apartment in Nyali, Mombasa's best district. EnglishPoint Marina is not the only international-quality resort development under way in Kenya.
About 140km to the north, on the coast at Watamu, the $75m Medina Palmsdevelopment is emerging. Medina Palms, which is a member of Sustain Worldwide, is being conceived with an emphasis on social sustainability through the support of local environmental initiatives. Prices at the beachfront resort start at £175,000 for a 141 sq metre, two-bedroom apartment.
