Kenya Launches $39 Billion Infrastructure Push, Revives Stalled China Railway
Kenya launched a $39 billion infrastructure plan that includes reviving a Chinese-backed railway project that sat unfinished for almost seven years. President William Ruto started construction again in March 2026, this time without new loans from China.
Kenya has announced a sweeping $39 billion infrastructure plan that includes roads, dams, and completing a railway that critics once called a "train to nowhere."
The Chinese-backed railway project was supposed to connect Kenya's coast to neighboring Uganda as part of China's Belt and Road initiative. But Beijing withheld $4.9 billion needed to finish it, leaving the project abandoned in 2019.
President William Ruto restarted construction in March 2026 without taking new Chinese loans. "It was never a road to nowhere," Ruto told crowds at a ceremony in Narok, symbolically fastening a bolt to rail tracks.
The original railway was a flagship project for Chinese President Xi Jinping's global infrastructure push. Its failure highlights how some Belt and Road projects have left developing countries with incomplete infrastructure and heavy debt burdens.
Kenya now faces the challenge of funding this massive infrastructure overhaul while managing its existing debt load. The government hasn't detailed how it will finance the $39 billion plan.
This massive spending could boost Kenya's economy and create jobs, but also raises questions about how the country will pay for it. The railway project shows how China's global infrastructure promises sometimes fall short, leaving countries to finish projects themselves.
Watch for details on how Kenya plans to fund the $39 billion infrastructure program and progress on railway construction.
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