China Roads and Bridge Corp, the builder of the 472 kilometer Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, has signed deals worth $500 million with local contractors, creating more than 38,000 jobs in the process, according to a 2015 social responsibility report released by the company in Nairobi late last month.
The development greatly eases the unemployment burden on the Kenyan government. The $3.8 billion project is scheduled for completion in 2017.
CRBC says 934 major project suppliers have been contracted and 212 small and medium-sized enterprises are doing contract work, with 12,700 locals indirectly employed, part of the 38,000 jobs.
Goods and services purchased from local markets accounted for 63 percent of the total goods bought.
Diesel, cement, sand and aggregate and over 330 vehicles are among goods locally purchased by the firm.
"We always adhere to the concept of 'goods and services', which means the needs of the project construction will never be purchased from outside Kenya if they are available locally to benefit the local economy and people," says the report.
The firm adds that by turning to the local market for its supplies, it directly contributes to capacity building of local industries and people.
38,000 jobs created by rail project
It has a total of 19,858 employees on the payroll, making it the second-biggest employer in Kenya, after the government. Of the project's workers, 71 percent are low skilled, 24 percent are technical and the rest work as management personnel. There are only 2,000 Chinese management and technical workers.
Kenya's Principal Secretary of Transport Wilson Irungu Nyakera says the CRBC report shows the company fulfilling its intention from the start to incorporate local businesses.
He notes that when the contract was inked in 2012, there was no provision for local content, but this has since been amended in later contracts with other international firms.
"But CRBC agreed to the 40 percent inclusion and has promised to increase it to about 47 percent. What is more commendable is that they are seeking ways to increase this even further," he says, adding that CRBC voluntarily agreed to the provision.
Wen Gang, chairman of CRBC, says they are aware of the attention the project has drawn regionally and internationally, and they have every intention to combine expertise and advanced technology to make it a world-class project.
"This is a project for the people and by the people. That is why CSR is important," says retired Kenya army general Jeremiah Kianga, chairman of Kenya Railways. "Future projects will be benchmarked using the CRBC project as they have used very high standards."
The government estimates the contribution made by SGR construction to the economy at 1.5 percent of GDP, growing to 2 percent when completed and running. The project's lasting benefit includes the training of 19,000 unskilled workers and 4,000 technicians.
The railway is a key infrastructure project aimed at improving the transport of freight and people within the Northern Corridor. Plans call for eventual extension of the standard gauge railway to Kampala, Uganda, and on to Kigali, Rwanda, to serve the entire region.