Scramble And Partition Of Konza: Investors Take Up 72 Percent Of Phase 1 Land

Seventy-two percent of land available for investment in Phase 1 of the Konza Technopolis project has been taken up by investors for development.

This represents 106 out of 147 land parcels demarcated for uptake by investors in Phase 1, which comprises 1,703 acres of land including wildlife and nature parks.

This comes at a time when the development of Phase 1’s horizontal infrastructure is set to be completed by the end of 2022. The completion of the works, which entail the construction of streetscapes and drainage works, paves way for the vertical construction works to be undertaken by the private sector.

According to the Eng. John Tanui, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), the agency mandated with the development of Konza Technopolis, the Authority is now focusing to complete the horizontal infrastructure which entails servicing the land parcels with key amenities.

“For the horizontal infrastructure, we expect within this year to move and reach over 95 percent with the remaining scope of work being the development of verticals among them a police command center, fire station, welcome center, safety shelter for screening vehicles and power distribution station as well as Konza furnished apartments. In 2021, we recorded over 70 percent completion and our focus is to complete this as we accelerate investor’s uptake,” said Eng. Tanui, who was speaking during an investor’s tour at Konza Technopolis.

“In respect to investor uptake of Phase One, we expect that the entire land parcels available will be taken up by June 2022. We are already in discussion with the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning to have more land demarcated for manufacturing since the parcels which had been set aside have been fully taken up.”

Phase One of the Konza Technopolis project is designed as a mixed-use community, comprising of commercial, residential, public, and hospitality amenities. Upon completion, Phase One is expected to attract 30,000 residents, 7,500 knowledge workers and 16,700 other workers.

Speaking during the investors’ tour, investor Mohammed Omar, Director at Odesey International Limited lauded the progress of the Technopolis, terming the ongoing works as a true reflection of the dream of a smart city in Kenya.

“For a long period, we were in limbo on what was happening at Konza Technopolis but upon my visit today, I am surprised that a lot is going on, especially on the horizontal infrastructure development. I think what I have seen here proves that as a nation, we are moving forward and this is how countries like South Korea were built,” said Omar.

Mr Omar also noted that the country has taken a good trajectory in developing other flagship projects such as Lamu Port and the New Kipevu Oil Terminal Project.

On his part, Eng. Mbugua Kamau, a real estate developer, who was part of the delegation noted that Konza Technopolis has made great progress in the last one year, especially in the development of service tunnels and roads.

“I am very impressed with the quality of work and particularly the service tunnels which covers six kilometres. The master plan is well thought out and it is good to note that investors are taking this project seriously,” said Kamau.

As part of its strategic priorities under the second strategic plan (2021-2025), Konza Technopolis Development Authority is actively engaging both local and international investors. Private sector players are also taking up the offerings of Konza National Data Centre, which is offering cloud computing services to both private and public organisations.

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