[kictanet] Looking back at Konza

[Collins Areba]

i still belong to those in the school of thought that this konza business
is somewhat fishy..... i have looked at available information on how I as a
kenyan can "plug in" but its all vague. It almost feels like some elitist
project to bring in some blue chips and big money.... like a lot of these
golf resorts popping up, only vague-er...

On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 12:37 AM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Looking at recent discussions on the list on Konza, one can forget how far
> the concept has come, and evolved
>
> *Kenya build Sh67bn digital city *
> Written by Kui Kinyanjui
> 31-August-2007: The governments of Kenya and the United Arab Emirates
> (UAE) have entered into a Sh67 billion partnership to establish East
> Africa’s first digital city.
>
> Athi River town on the outskirts of Nairobi has been earmarked for the
> project that will be modelled on the successes of Dubai Internet City.
>
> The initiative is expected to create new jobs as major corporations set up
> base and use local resources to conduct their business.
>
> Besides, proponents of the project say it will position the country as a
> regional base for manufacture and development of ICT products.
>
> “Kenya has seen an increasing number of foreign ICT companies set up
> offices in Nairobi that they intend to use as entry points to the regional
> market,” Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
> Information, said.
>
> The partnership for the project was formed at the request of the UAE
> government and has seen the two governments draft a memorandum of
> understanding that is currently before the Attorney-General. Two Middle
> Eastern companies have expressed interest in undertaking the project.
>
> “There is significant demand. Companies have already approached us looking
> for incentives or joint partnership opportunities to start operations in
> Athi River,” said Dr Ndemo.
>
> In the last few years, several companies have opened regional bases in the
> country, including Microsoft, Nokia, HP, Ericcson and Cisco, all of whom
> have all cited the region’s relevance as the biggest emerging market for
> ICT products .
>
> Athi River —located just 50 kilometres from Nairobi City Centre — is
> currently a hub for several industries, including cement firms,
> manufacturing concerns and is home to an export processing zone (EPZ).
>
> It’s conversion into a fully fledged ICT city could transform the dusty
> town into the main industrial base of the country.
>
> However, the proposed digital city will face challenges that reflect the
> wider needs of the country as it increasingly relies on the ICT industry to
> drive economic growth, which according to a recent African Development Bank
> report, is expected to reach its highest levels in 20 years driven by the
> new sector.
>
> Those challenges include an acute shortage of trained IT workers and
> inadequate infrastructure.
>
> In response to that need and the development of other ICT driven
> industries such as the business process outsourcing sector, the government
> plans to heavily invest in beefing up the country’s infrastructure to
> increase access to internet-related services.
>
> It also aims to increase of technology content in the school curriculum
> and is currently offering subsidized bandwith to universities to encourage
> e-learning.
>
> Source - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=483232&page=6
>
> --
> with Regards:
>
> blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>
>
>
>
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-- 
*“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of
great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of
corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of
protecting corporate power against democracy”*
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