STORY: Chinese-built railway helps drive economic, social development in Kenya
DATELINE: Oct. 15, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:05
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Chinese-built Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ABABU NAMWAMBA, Cabinet secretary for youth affairs, sports and the arts, Kenya
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ERASTUS MWENCHA, Former Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DENNIS MUNENE MWANIKI, Executive Director, China-Africa Center, Kenya

STORYLINE:

The Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya is a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Passenger train service on the 480-km railway was launched on May 31, 2017.

By mid-2023, more than 10 million trips had been made and more than 25 million tonnes of goods had been delivered on the railway, which has driven the economic and social development of areas along the route in Kenya.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ABABU NAMWAMBA, Cabinet secretary for youth affairs, sports and the arts, Kenya 
"Since that time all the way to the partnership that has delivered the SGR and the expressway (in) Nairobi. You can see clearly the outputs of Kenya-China diplomatic ties and development cooperation. It can only get better because we share so much in common."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): ERASTUS MWENCHA, Former Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission
"In Kenya, one of what I would call signature projects is the SGR, Standard Gauge Railway, which runs from Mombasa to Nairobi. It has cut the time that it takes for a train to travel from Mombasa to Nairobi, from 12 hours. Now one can do it in about six hours. 
So the Belt and Road Initiative is a mutual program that brings these countries together to agree on a common platform, to engage, to continue to support and also enable multilateralism to flourish, and also to bring about better development within the region that Belt and Road Initiative covers."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DENNIS MUNENE MWANIKI, Executive Director, China-Africa Center, Kenya 
"They've helped my country especially Kenya when it comes to the issue of the SGR, which has been a brainchild of the Belt and Road Initiative. It has helped Kenya to grow in terms of its GDP, in terms of it expanding its transport, and also easing of goods and all that."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)