From: marc.gr.vandyck@invalid.skynet.be   
      
   Sancho Panza laid this down on his screen :   
   > Nairobi (AFP) - China on Sunday signed a deal to build a $3.8 billion rail   
   > link between Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and Nairobi, the first   
   > stage of a line that will eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South   
   > Sudan.   
   >   
   > Under the terms of the agreement, Exim Bank of China will provide 90 percent   
   > of the cost to replace the crumbling British colonial-era line with a 609.3   
   > kilometre (379 mile) standard-gauge link and Kenya the remaining 10 percent.   
   >   
   > Construction is due to start in October and take three-and-a-half years to   
   > complete, with China Communications Construction Co. as the main contractor.   
   > Once the Mombasa-Nairobi line is completed, construction would begin to link   
   > east Africa's largest economy with Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba.   
   >   
   > The deal was signed at State House in Nairobi and witnessed by presidents   
   > Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and   
   > Salva Kiir of South Sudan.   
   >   
   > "This project demonstrates that there is equal cooperation and mutual benefit   
   > between China and the East African countries, and the railway is a very   
   > important part of transport infrastructure development," Chinese Premier Li   
   > Keqiang said.   
   > --http://news.yahoo.com/china-signs-mega-east-africa-rail-deal   
   134536400.html;_ylt=AwrSyCSolW9TNFAAfNHQtDMD   
   >   
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   I suppose the Chinese are still seriously after east african raw   
   materials.   
      
   Remember that Chinese funds are also behind the TAZARA rail line   
   that connect Tanzania and Zambia, also in East Africa.   
      
   On the other hand, given that the whole east african network is in   
   UK metric gauge, building this line on UIC gauge is really a mistake   
   in my opinion. This will remove all possible "network effets", which   
   is a shame, given that this link to Sudan is the last missing part in   
   the mythic "Cape to Cairo" rail line...   
      
   --   
   Marc Van Dyck   
      
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