Kenya, China Sign Bilateral Agreements

By George Okore

NAIROBI---Kenya has signed 10 bilateral agreements with China as the Asian giant increased its footprint in the resource-poor but market-rich and strategically located East African country.

Among the deals signed was a 95-million-dollar framework agreement for a 500-bed hospital that will be country's first fully-fledged university hospital. Projects to develop solar energy, provide anti-malaria equipment, build a hydropower station and other agreements on media and education were also inked.

"Today Kenya is the largest beneficiary of Chinese aid and concessional loans. We intend to deepen the relations further," senior Chinese Communist Party official Li Changchun said at the ceremony.

Kenyan-Chinese trade stood at around 1.3 billion dollars in 2009 with Kenyan exports to China almost negligible. With few natural resources to attract China's voracious energy industry, Kenya is nevertheless considered an important access market and a regional cornerstone.

The East African country has acquired new strategic significance for China through its proximity to the future state of Southern Sudan. China imports 60 per cent of Southern Sudan's oil and the inauguration of a new state, slated for July, could lead to the creation of a new pipeline which does not go through the north but instead croses Kenya to reach the sea.

According to official Chinese figures, China currently has 22 construction companies undertaking 52 separate projects in Kenya.