With a view to strengthening bilateral and technical cooperation between the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Kenya, the Minister of Development, Territorial Equipment and Public Works, Mr. Jean Jacques BOUYA, visited Kenya from 7 to 14 March 2018, where he had fruitful discussions with the authorities of this country and made some technical visits to structures within his domain. 

At the beginning of his working visit, Minister Jean Jacques Bouya was received by the Kenyan Vice-President, His Excellency Mr. William Ruto. The two parties discussed not only issues related to bilateral cooperation, but also deplored the insufficient exchange of views and experiences in various fields.  

In so doing, issues related to the building of capacities and technical knowledge of out-of-school youth and their contribution to the development of infrastructure formed the backdrop to the meeting between the Congolese Minister of Development, Territorial Equipment and Public Works and the Kenyan Ministers in charge of Education and Youth. It emerged that precautionary approaches and a strong political commitment on the part of the Kenyan government made it possible to develop appropriate programmes within universities, schools and other technical structures for the occupation and employment of this category of young people.

The meeting also led to a visit to the Technical University, the National Agency for Interurban Roads and Highways and the National Youth Agency. Three structures revitalized thanks to Chinese technical cooperation.

On this occasion, Jean Jacques BOUYA was immersed in the Kenyan experience in terms of land development and equipment, and measured the capacity of certain companies intending to carry out Public-Private Partnership investment in Congo.

This moreover led to his visit to the Nairobi - Mombasa Railway, the first segment of the Mombasa- Nairobi-Naivasha railway. It was a question for the Congolese statesman to appreciate the quality of the work carried out by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a subsidiary of the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) group, which also manages it.

It is a standard gauge infrastructure, dubbed the Standard Gauge Railway, which links Nairobi, the political capital, to Mombasa, the economic capital, over a distance of around 500 km. It is 90% financed in its first stage by China EximBank, under a 10-year concession and managed as a public-private partnership.

With Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), a Chinese engineering group specializing, among other things, in aircraft and shipbuilding, the working sessions focused on the manufacturer's African experience, particularly in East African countries.

This exercise continued at the mega construction site of a six-tower city built in downtown Nairobi and enabled Minister Jean Jacques Bouya to assess the importance of the group's financial commitments in the real estate sector.