A locomotive transports material for the construction of a new standard gauge railway line near Mtito Andei, Kenya, Sept.2, 2015. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)
NAIROBI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's investment in key infrastructure projects in Africa and the consequent technology transfer have boosted economic growth in the continent, Kenyan officials and expert have said.
"China has vast experience in building key infrastructure projects in Kenya and Africa as a whole," Mary Oyuke, corporate affairs manager at Kenya Railways Corporation said.
At present, a new standard gauge railway line linking Kenya's port city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi is being built by a Chinese company, with 90 percent of the project financed by China.
In the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the first light railway in the African continent, built by a Chinese firm, was inaugurated late September, with two lines of a total length of 34km running within the city.
Douglas Kaunda, spokesman for Kenya's ministry of transport, said Chinese investment in infrastructure has a great impact on African countries.
"The impact in Kenya is unprecedented because Chinese are everywhere undertaking infrasture porjects, like roads, railways and airports," Kaunda said.
He said the standard gauge rail would "transform Kenya's transport industry" as it is to replace the current narrow-gauge track built over a century ago by the British.
Another area that China has actively involved in Africa is the communication sector, according to Macharia Munene, an international relations lecturer at the U.S. International University (USIU) in Nairobi.
Chinese telecoms giants, Huawei and ZTE, have firmly established themselves in Africa, helping to reduce the cost of communication across the continent, and tapping potential for further economic growth, he said.
"There is also a lot of impact regarding technology transfer," Kaunda said.
Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology, Fred Matiang'i (4th L, front) and Huawei Kenya Chief Executive Officer Dean Yu (4th R, front) with 10 students who are to travel to China to receive Huawei's training, in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Nyalwash)
Chinese companies have vowed technology transfer during their operations in Africa.
Huawei and ZTE have launched series of initiatives offering training for young Africans in several countries, while the China Road and Bridge Corporation, carrying out the work on Kenya's new rail, have provided training for more than 16,000 local workers.
China and African countries have upgraded the Ministerial Meeting of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation into a China-Africa summit due to be held in South Africa in December.
Munene said Chinese investment in Africa is gaining momentum as the summit nears.
He believed talks on further enhancing economic cooperation would dominate the summit agenda.
