On June 1st, the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (Munne Railway) with a total length of 480 kilometers started passenger service, bringing speed and passion to Kenyan people who are eager for economic development and comfortable travel. The opening of the Inner Mongolia Railway has not only narrowed the distance between different regions and different tribes in Kenya, but also made people look forward to the great development of China Unicom in the whole East Africa and the bright future of win-win cooperation between China and Africa under the background of the "Belt and Road Initiative".
Awkward and heavy-duty meter-gauge railway
Kenya Railway Museum displays a locomotive with a history of 100 years. At the end of 19th century, in order to strengthen the control of "British East Africa", the British government built the first railway in African history — — Uganda meter gauge railway. This 970-kilometer-long railway is a narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 1 meter. It is said that nearly 2,500 Indian workers died in the process of building the railway, and the total cost exceeded 5.5 million pounds (about 650 million pounds at the current currency), so the meter-gauge railway is also dubbed as the "crazy railway".
"Kenya is a country born on the rails." The brochure of the museum introduces this. In 1901, after the meter-gauge railway was completed and opened to traffic, it became the "gateway" for British colonists to plunder mineral resources in East Africa, and the fate of East Africa was closely linked with the railway. Objectively, the railway has brought about the prosperity of trade and the awakening of national consciousness. In 1963, under the leadership of jomo kenyatta, Kenya gained national independence from British colonists. In 1977, the meter-gauge railway was nationalized and began to undertake the important mission of economic development in this new African country.
Today, the meter-gauge railway has been in operation for more than a hundred years. Due to lack of maintenance and natural aging, its transportation capacity has been greatly reduced. It is reported that the annual freight volume of the railway from Mombasa Port to Nairobi has dropped from 4.8 million tons in the early 1980s to 1.5 million tons in 2012, and the running speed has also dropped from 70 kilometers per hour originally designed to 40 kilometers. At present, most of Kenya’s cargo transportation is basically undertaken by road.
Having a railway that meets the standards of the times and development needs has become a dream of Kenyans.
China Standard in the New Era
Mombasa Port is the largest port in East Africa, and its container transit covers ports in Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. In the 15th century, Zheng He led his fleet as far as Mombasa, the east African coast, which is now Mombasa. Kenyan President uhuru kenyatta once said that Mombasa Port is very important for the development of East Africa, and the Kenyan government will make Mombasa Port the largest and most convenient seaport in East Africa. However, due to the backward development of land transportation, it has become a major bottleneck restricting the economic development of East Africa. Therefore, the significance of the strategy of "combined transport between Hong Kong and rail" is even more prominent.
In May 2014, when China Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China visited Africa, he witnessed with the presidents or foreign ministers of six East African countries pertinent information about Mombasa — — Signing of loan agreement related to Nairobi standard gauge railway. In January, 2015, 9 sections of the Inner Mongolia Railway were completed, and more than 20 construction camps were fully started. On May 31, 2017, the Inner Mongolia Railway was officially completed and opened to traffic. uhuru kenyatta presided over the opening ceremony and personally tried the train. China State Councilor Wang Yong was invited to attend the opening ceremony as the special envoy of the supreme leader of president, China.
The construction of Inner Mongolia Railway adopts "China standard, China technology, China equipment and China management", which is a successful case of "going out" of the whole railway industry chain in China. Behind the success, China enterprises have overcome one challenge after another. Li Qiang, deputy general manager of China Road and Bridge Company, said that the most difficult issue is the railway standard. "Kenya doesn’t know what the China standard is. They always think that the American standard is the best. It took a year and a half for the standard dispute alone."
During the construction period, China enterprises organized domestic experts to make a comparative study of American standards and China standards, introduced China standards to Kenyan officials at different levels and in different fields one by one, and led Kenyan government officials and parliamentarians to China for on-the-spot inspection of high-speed rail construction and operation effects, which finally successfully changed the attitude of the Kenyan government towards China standards.
Railway Economics in Kenya
June 1st is Kenya’s legal national day "Madaraka Festival" (Swahili means "right"), and it is also the first operation day after the opening of the Inner Mongolia Railway. On this day in 1963, the Kenyan people gained "autonomy" from the British colonists, marking the end of the colonial era. "Today, we are here to celebrate the opening of the Madaraka Express. Although there are many criticisms, the new railway line will definitely change the history of Kenya in the next 100 years," uhuru kenyatta said at the opening ceremony. "I want to thank our partner and true friend China in particular. With their help, this project can be completed in two and a half years."
The Inner Mongolia Railway is 480 kilometers long with a total investment of US$ 3.8 billion. It is the largest infrastructure project invested by Kenya since its independence. It is reported that the maximum speed of trucks on the Inner Mongolia Railway is 80 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed of buses is 120 kilometers per hour. The journey from Nairobi to Mombasa has been shortened from more than ten hours in the past to only four and a half hours. According to statistics, in the first operation week, nearly 12,000 passengers were sent, and the one-way fare was only 700 shillings (about 49 yuan RMB).
The construction of the Inner Mongolia Railway coincides with the rapid development of China-Kenya comprehensive cooperative partnership in recent years, and the relationship between the two countries is at its best in history. Kenya is one of the pilot countries in China-Africa capacity cooperation and plays a leading and exemplary role in China-Africa cooperation. According to the latest data, during the construction period, the Inner Mongolia Railway Project created a total of 38,000 jobs for Kenya, which promoted the growth of Kenya’s GDP by 1.5%, and local employees accounted for about 90% of the total employees. After the project is completed, the logistics cost in Kenya can be reduced by 40%.
Overlooking the "East African Railway Network"
In May this year, the "Belt and Road" international cooperation summit forum was held as scheduled, and Kenyan President uhuru kenyatta was invited to attend. When meeting with President Kenyatta, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader emphasized that China and Kenya should take the construction of the Inner Mongolia Railway as the traction, promote the construction of an industrial economic corridor integrating roads and ports, and jointly create a new pattern of trinity cooperation among the Inner Mongolia Railway, Mombasa Port and Mombasa Special Economic Zone.
It is reported that the Inner Mongolia Railway is the first project of the East African railway network. At present, the first phase project of Neimatie Road has started, starting from Nairobi and ending at Malaba, the border city between Kenya and Uganda, with a total length of nearly 500 kilometers. According to the long-term plan, the East African railway network starts from Mombasa and goes to Uganda via Nairobi. From Uganda, it is divided into two roads, journey to the south to South Sudan, and the other road goes south from Kampala, the capital of Uganda, to Rwanda, and connects to Tanzania via Burundi. The planned total length is 2,700 kilometers. "East Africa Railway Network" will greatly reduce logistics costs and promote the process of regional integration. By then, East Africa will become a veritable "destiny community on the railway".
In an interview with this reporter, former Permanent Secretary-General of Kenya’s Ministry of Communications and professor of international economics at Nairobi University said that western colonists left a "political legacy" in Africa — — Ethnic conflicts, religious conflicts and tribal conflicts, these "heritages" have imprisoned the development and integration process in Africa. The "Belt and Road Initiative" emphasizes interconnection, joint construction and sharing, and win-win cooperation, which is an important way for Africa to break the shackles.
Promoting the construction of the "Belt and Road" will not repeat the old routine of geopolitical games, but will create a new model of win-win cooperation; Instead of forming a destabilizing clique, we will build a harmonious and coexisting family. Therefore, the "Belt and Road Initiative" will not only promote regional cooperation, but also promote the building of a community of destiny between China and Africa through demonstration effect, spillover effect, radiation effect and linkage effect, and realize the new development of mutual cooperation, joint construction, sharing and win-win between China and Africa.
(Cairo, August 3 rd, our reporter in Cairo Yu Jiefei)