Kilifi, KENYA: NSE-listed investment company Centum in the verge of launching the construction of Vipingo Mega City in Kilifi County early this year.
This comes after the company came to terms with the residents and owners of the area, in regard to the land dispute which took center stage for quite some time last year.
Dr. James Mworia, the company’s Chief Executive Officer told Baraka FM on Thursday that architects are in the final stages of designing the construction plan.
Among the constructions are Vipingo Vocational training Institute, Industrial park and infrastructure development covering 10,254 acres.
Speaking in Kilifi, Dr Mworia said the ground breaking ceremony for the training institute, the industrial park and the infrastructure development is scheduled for early this year, while other development programs slated in the project will continue later as it commences.
“We are in the final stages of designing the construction plan for the Mega City and have already marked the setup of the Vipingo vocational training institute as the first component and ground breaking will be launched sooner than later,” said Dr. Mworia.
He said some other interested stakeholders have expressed their interest on the industrial park, which he said had received overwhelming support from other investors.
“We have people who are ready to join hands and set up industries in this project, we are also looking at the infrastructure targeting to desalinate sea water so that it can be safe for human consumption,” he added.
Dr. Mworia added that the project which has been termed as one of the biggest in Africa, is expected to take several years before completion, since there will be other stakeholders who are expected to invest in it in the future.
Centum Investment Committee chairman Chris Kirubi said the multi-billion project will revolutionize Kilifi County and make it the top investment hub county in the Coast region.
“The training institute and all other projects that will be undertaken by Centum will bring great change to the lives of the people of Kilifi, the entire country and the world,” Dr. Kirubi said.
He said people of Kilifi should not stagnant in development but allow opportunities to change their lives.
“Do you want to remain in the days of David Livingstone and John Speck? No you must move forward in development and instead of calling yourselves Kilifians, shun that to call yourselves Kenyans,” added Kirubi
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi said the county had so far signed several agreements with investors totaling to more than Sh 3.5 billion since last year.
“The opportunities that are in greater Kilifi County have started to emerge. Recently we signed over four agreements with various investors who want to do business in Kilifi including a Chinese firm which is investing Sh2.5 billion in fruits and vegetable processing,” said Kingi.
