USA & Kenya Govt Signs Ksh.8.7 billion deal to power electric buses

President William Ruto has signed an agreement for Ksh.8.7 billion with an American corporation, the United States' Millennium Change Corporation (MCC), to finance the purchase of electric buses for Line 2 of Nairobi's Bus Rapid Transit system.

 
In New York, President William Ruto met with MCC CEO Alice Albright to finalise the agreement. On the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, the president signed the agreement. Njuguna Ndungu, Treasury Secretary-General, and MCC CEO Alice Albright inked the multibillion-dollar agreement, which would see the introduction of high-capacity buses to alleviate traffic congestion.
 
According to him, Kenya's Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Programme would aid the country in reducing traffic congestion in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area.
 
"For us, mobility in Nairobi is crucial. There are 1 million daily tourists who place a significant pressure on the city's infrastructure, which has 5 million daytime residents and 4 million nighttime residents. A key component of the transportation system is the bus", according to Ruto.
 
Ruto went on to say that they are also working on a rail system around Nairobi, with 28 stations built out of a potential 38. 
 
MCC is a US federal agency established by Congress in 2004. On its website, the company states that it works with "the world's poorest countries that are committed to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investing in their populations."
 
According to MCC CEO Alice Albright, "The MCC grant to the Kenyan government is the biggest and one of the most ambitious threshold initiatives the organisation has ever carried out with a partner nation."
 
She also added that the cash would aid Kenya in achieving urban connectedness and foster economic growth. The assistance will strengthen connections between Kenya and the United States.
 
Kenya was chosen in December 2019 by the Washington, DC-based organization's directors' board as being qualified to create a second threshold programme. The signing, according to MCC, came after several years of working together on project design.
 
"Analysis, undertaken jointly by MCC and the Government of Kenya, indicated that Kenya's urban areas—particularly in the capital city, Nairobi—did not experience the considerable productivity increases typically associated with urbanisation," MCC stated in a statement.

Posted on : 09 Dec,2023 | News Source : ABNews

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