It goes steadily across the steppes, to the sound of train wheels clattering against rails that are not welded completely seamlessly together. Kilometer by kilometer I slide forward, but also 1,800 meters down towards the sea. From the capital Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa. The sun is working its way up towards the zenith, while villages, fields and children with schoolbags fly by. A first class ticket costs NOK 330, and it is similar to a normal Norwegian train compartment. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Less frustration than on the asphalt Kenya’s express train had its first departure in 2017. It does not run at express speed, but is several times faster than the train legacy from the colonial era. The railway is built by Chinese, and part of China’s global road and belt investment. Millions of Kenyans, but also tourists, have taken this stage between Kenya’s two big cities. The train has become a symbol of a country that wants to move forward. From the train window I also see Mombasa Road – a stretch of road that quickly makes you understand the need for an express train. Almost every asphalted uphill on Kenya’s main roads can make you cry for a crab field, because old and overloaded trucks drive in a queue – at ten kilometers an hour. There is less frustration to track here in the train compartment. Madaraka Express is the name of the train and it often gets positive reviews in the media, where growth in passenger numbers is constantly being reported. If you are lucky, you can see several different African animals from the train window. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news No overcrowded trains But there is something jarring. On closer inspection, the positive articles are often signed by a PR agency or a state-run Chinese news agency. And at the train station in Nairobi before you get the impression that the Kenyans have fully embraced the train yet. In Cameroon, I remember the meeting with the train station as a shocking experience. A throng of people, where the women conjure up exotic dishes from the bucket they balanced on their heads. And men who fought to be the one to get hold of your suitcase, and then ran away, so that you only had one choice: To follow, and get paid for the service you never asked for, so that you get the suitcase back. But the magnificent station in Nairobi is more reminiscent of an empty night Oslo S. Good space, orderly conditions and enough space for several passengers. Because even though there is an increase in the number of passengers, the large electronic timetable shows that the traffic on the railway is so-so. From the train station in Nairobi – a city with roughly the same number of inhabitants as the whole of Norway – there are only four express departures on a normal day in March. And when the compartments are filled up, several rows of seats remain empty. Freight traffic has also not taken off as much as hoped. Not everything is going smoothly for Kenya’s train project. Morning train, afternoon departure and night train. Only three departures a day, but in return the train sets are long. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news New plans both here and there Railways are in the wind on the African continent. The planned Lobito corridor, from Zambia and Congo’s most mineral-rich regions and out to the town of Lobito on the coast of Angola, is getting the most attention right now. The project has recently been promised money from both the USA and the EU, both of which are looking for minerals to carry out the green shift. The Lobito corridor is seen as the West’s first proper attempt to give China competition when it comes to infrastructure development in Africa. The station in Nairobi is located outside the city centre, not far from the international airport. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news And it is probably no coincidence that better infrastructure is needed for major powers that want to win the competition for Africa’s resources. When it comes to Lobito, journalists have already started asking critical questions to the EU and the US. For Kenya, it is one of several examples of how railway investment in Africa is not always a success story. Førebel’s terminus in no man’s land NOK 49 billion was the price tag for Kenya’s new railway. According to Kenya’s central bank, the investment led to Kenya going from having a debt that corresponded to 38 percent of the country’s gross national product in 2012, to the debt subsequently corresponding to 70 percent of the annual national product. It takes time for a railway investment to pay off, and it becomes even more difficult when the project does not turn out exactly as it should. The stated aim was to create a railway and supply line all the way from the conflict-ridden East Congo, via Uganda and out to the coast of Kenya. Freight traffic and the strengthening of the port in Mombasa would mean more money in Kenya’s treasury. But even if the train project does not have tracks completely, it is on a side track. Now the new railway tracks stop a little north of Nairobi, far from the border with Uganda and even further from the border with Congo. Each departure has hundreds of passengers, and there is an increase in the number of passengers. Nevertheless, the potential is far greater. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Competition between neighboring countries The income from freight transport is thus far lower than budgeted, at the same time that the debt is really starting to weigh on an economy that has no large buffer account to draw from. Kenya has been in a debt crisis in recent years, and a full 20 percent of its debt is owed to road and railway producer China. The debt problem has weakened the currency and made imported goods more expensive. This is also noticed by ordinary families who increasingly have to turn their shillings to make ends meet. And it is not exactly the Kenyans who immediately benefited from the train. Money troubles put a stick in the train wheel for Kenya. Another problem is competition from neighboring Tanzania. Their railway project has been cheaper. And when the railways in Tanzania are also in the process of being electrified, Uganda may be able to scrap the Kenya plan. Electric trains will be able to run faster and more efficiently. Suddenly, Tanzania’s coast may be more attractive than Kenya’s coast for neighboring countries on the continent. Old trainsets are still running in Kenya, but at a much slower speed. Photo: Reuters Ethiopia + Kenya + train = true? Perhaps it is then more realistic for Kenya to cooperate with a neighbor who has painted himself into a corner in recent weeks. Ethiopia started 2024 by infuriating Somalia. The Ethiopians want better access to the sea, and entered into an agreement with Somaliland, a self-governing part of Somalia. The agreement was that landlocked Ethiopia would get a long coastal strip and establish a port on the Red Sea. In exchange, Somaliland has supposedly received a promise to be recognized as an independent state by Ethiopia. It has caused a lot of anger in Somalia. Ethiopia may have started to look for a way out. Because there has been less talk about Somaliland lately, and more and more talk about Lapsset – an old dream that Kenya and Ethiopia are now dusting off. The Lapsset includes, among other things, a railway from Ethiopia to a port to be built at the tourist paradise of Lamu on Kenya’s north coast. But we are talking here about impoverished areas far from today’s railways, and it is primarily goods from Ethiopia that will need such a railway. The fastest way to Nairobi, along the hill, is via Mombasa Terminus. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news The total price tag is calculated at NOK 167 billion, i.e. three times as much as the railway line that has led to the debt crisis in Kenya. In other words, there will be a need for a lot of good funding if the project is to become a reality. South Sudan is also part of the Lapsset plan, but it would be surprising if the crisis-ridden South Sudan has railways at the top of its priority list right now. Regardless. There is no shortage of opportunities for African railways. The African Union’s plan to link African cities together in a network is an example. And if it weren’t for the fact that this correspondent’s letter is also approaching its terminus, I should have mentioned many more. It was a nice trip. I saw three elephants. And a good number of villages, surrounded by beautiful acacia trees, and occasionally with the Chyulu mountains as a backdrop. I also had to remind myself how loud and how long some Somalis can talk on the phone. All in all, a real African experience in 2024, and for just NOK 330 for a one-way ticket in best class.
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Are African train dreams a solution or a derailment? – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
