An artist's impression of the Entry Plaza to Konza Tech City. Image courtesy of Konza Techno City.
Construction of Kenya’s technology city Konza is set to kick-off in the fourth quarter of 2013 according to ICT principal secretary Joseph Tiampati.
The first phase of the project will consume an estimated 400 acres of the overall 5,000 acres earmarked for Konza will run through to 2017, employing 17,000 people.
According to the principal secretary the first phase will provide accommodation to 30,000 residents once completed.
Speaking at the Great Rift Vally ICT Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tiampati said: “We will from Q4 of this year be finally breaking ground for the full time construction of phase one of the Konza city phase one project that will last till 2017. We urge all investors to be part of this project to reap its benefits.”
The project that was officially commissioned by former president Mwai Kibaki will cost an estimated KSh800 billion shillings (US$9.1 billion) for the three phases.
Among features of the first phase include 1.5 million square meters of real estate costing US$1.06 billion (US$750m on-site infrastructure and US$310m offsite infrastructure) that will house commercial office space, large scale office malls, and the financial district centre.
Tiampati reiterated Kenya was ready to move from the policy phase to the ICT development phase with Konza among the key projects.
