Sh394bn of China funded projects linked to graft
Madaraka Express arrives at the Mombasa Terminus in Miritini from Nairobi in July last year.
What you need to know:
- A study by a top US research university suggests Kenya is among the top countries where implementation of Chinese government-funded projects has been slowed down by graft.
- The findings are part of a report by AidData, an international development research laboratory based at the College of William & Mary, covering some 13,427 projects worth $843 billion (Sh93.23 trillion) funded by the Chinese.
China-funded infrastructure projects in Kenya worth nearly Sh394.27 billion have been dogged by claims of graft and financial impropriety, the third highest value of tainted ventures being implemented globally under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
A study by a top US research university suggests Kenya is among the top countries where implementation of Chinese government-funded projects has been slowed down by graft allegations such as misuse of funds, collusion, inflation of costs, and kickbacks.
The findings are part of a report by AidData, an international development research laboratory based at the College of William & Mary, covering some 13,427 projects worth $843 billion (Sh93.23 trillion) funded by the Chinese across 165 countries over 18 years.
"We find that 94 percent of collateralised lending from official sector institutions in China between 2000 and 2017 supported countries 85 scoring below the global median on the WGI (Worldwide Governance Indicators) Control of Corruption," the researchers said in the ‘Banking on the Belt and Road’ report.
"These patterns in the dataset reinforce a key point: Beijing is more willing to bankroll projects in risky countries than other official creditors, but it is also more aggressive than its peers at positioning itself at the front of the repayment line (via collateralisation)."
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