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Private Sector | Multi State - India | PID: 203473
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Two events unfolding parallelly show how China and India are vying to gain clout over smaller countries. While China President Xi Jinping at a summit in Beijing today has pledged to step up support across debt-laden Africa with funding of nearly $51 billion over three years, backing for more infrastructure projects, and the creation of at least one million jobs, workers at an airport in Kenya are protesting against India's Adani Group.
Adani Enterprises has set up a company in Kenya to expand and operate Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The company, Airports Infrastructure, is looking to take over the management of JKIA. The move drew protests from the country's transport workers over potential job losses.
Adani Enterprises has proposed an investment of $750 million for a new terminal and taxiway system by 2029 to the Kenyan authorities, with an additional $92 million for improvements by 2035. If the deal is struck, it will be Adani's first airport outside of India. It currently operates a little over half a dozen airports in the country. Kenya's government has defended the deal as a necessary measure to refurbish JKIA -- one of Africa's busiest hubs -- which is often hit by power outages and leaking roofs. The government said last month that the deal would be "subjected to technical, financial and legal reviews alongside requisite due processes".
Adani's entry into Africa is seen as part of its challenge to China which has funded gargantuan infrastructure projects in the continent. Adani's other global infrastructure moves have rivalled China and given India important strategic and economic footholds in other countries
| Updated on: 03 - Oct - 2024
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