Kenya's dreamy tech city

What came first, the egg or the chicken? This is a question humanity seeks to answer in the process-result conundrum.

Kenya is facing its own dilemma as debate rages over the government's plan to build a multibillion-dollar tech city.

In the past, Kenyans have witnessed 'white elephant' projects, where publicly funded undertakings have been abandoned halfway through.

Ken Macharia, ITWeb's Kenyan correspondent

Two opposing sides have emerged in the debate on the need to build such a city from scratch, even as the government pushes on with its plans, unperturbed by the sideline debate.

The proposed Konza Technopolis city is one of the flagship projects of Kenya's ambitious plan to become a middle-income country by 2030.

The Konza Technopolis city is to be constructed on a 5 000-acre piece of land, 60km south of Nairobi. The government, through the Ministry of Information and Communication, is spearheading the $10 billion project.

The Kenyan government is hoping to partner with local and international investors to finance the project, which will include a business process outsourcing (BPO) zone, a financial district and a commercial district with ample office space.

Konza will also have world-class hotels, hospitals, a stadium and other social amenities typical of a city. An initial land use plan envisions phased development over 20 years with the BPO/IT Educational and Science Park taking up 23% of the planned six million square metres of the site.

But not everyone is jumping at the news of an ICT park. One side of the debate, mainly in the ICT private sector, is not necessarily opposed to the idea of having a technopolis. To them, issues of capacity have to be addressed before investment is made in brick-and-mortar structures. A few others believe cities should grow organically and be demand-driven, and there is also general scepticism on the government's ability to pull off such a project.

“If you want a good football team, do you invest in building a world-class stadium or do you invest in building the capacity of the team?” asked one IT player in a recent ICT forum.

However, on the other side of the debate, most hold to the mantra of 'if you build it, they will come'. What is interesting is the rare passion and focus the public sector has shown in pushing the idea of an ICT park. Even parliament has thrown its support behind the project.

The general positions taken by the private and public sectors seem to reaffirm the already underlying perception in the country that the government is light years ahead in terms of the vision and drive of developing the ICT sector in the country, while the private sector is trying to catch up.

So why the scepticism from the private sector about Konza? In the past, Kenyans have witnessed 'white elephant' projects, where publicly funded undertakings have been abandoned halfway through, gobbling double the amount allocated.

But there is some glimmer of hope that things may be changing. The government's commitment to start and finish massive infrastructural projects somewhat settles these misgivings.

Historically, most cities have developed and grown organically mainly due to the fact that they lie along key trading or intersecting routes, and there is availability of natural resources and proximity to the port. Some have sprouted due to the good climatic conditions and availability of fresh water.

But quite a number of cities have also developed as a result of deliberate government policy, either to de-populate the main city, or to create administrative centres separate from the commercial capital. Tanzania, Nigeria and SA have separate political and commercial capitals. What would be different in creating special economic and technology zones?

Kenya will be the first to attempt to build a tech city in the region, but not in the world. Shenzhen City, in China, is one of the few developed and managed cities in the world. The Science and Technology Park in Nanshan District within Shenzhen houses many foreign high-tech companies.

Discussion around Konza should not be a zero-sum debate. Instead, the government and local and international investors should hold discussions in an open forum. Communication from the handlers of the technopolis that portrays Konza city as mainly a tech city can be reviewed to paint a more comprehensive picture.

The city's concept has financial, educational, commercial and industrial implications, which have not been sold as aggressively as the tech aspect has. Perhaps the better name for the proposed city would be Konza Special Economic Zone, where the key pillars mutually benefit from each other's presence.

Technology, after all, is a means to an end, not the end itself.