Kenya Plans 'Silicon Savannah' to Build on Tech Growth

 　　It is hard to escape the images of “Konza City” in Kenya.  Advertisements promoting the future high-tech¹ hub, or “technopolis,” appear daily in the country's newspapers and show regularly on the state television network.

　　The ambitious plan is the work of Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary of Kenya's Ministry² of Information.  A scale-model in the corner of his office shows off the grand scheme.  Konza City will have its own international financial district, office buildings for technology companies and innovation labs, as well as manufacturing plants, artificial rivers and eventually homes, schools, churches and mosques³.

　　The Kenyan government bought a 2,000-hectare plot of land for the project about 60 kilometers from the capital, and is now seeking to hire a master developer to find investors⁵ and arrange the construction.  The project will come together in two phases and will take about 20 years to complete.

　　Inspired by his visit to Silicon⁶ Valley in the United States, the home of the U.S. high-tech industry, Ndemo says the project aims to attract international investors who either cannot find space in overcrowded downtown Nairobi, or who cannot find buildings that meet their standards.  Underscoring the urgency of his point, on the day he spoke⁷ to VOA, a blackout had hit downtown Nairobi and the building housing the Ministry of Information was running on a back-up generator⁸.

　　“It doesn't take much to understand this project if you have lived here longer, because working in the city center here is such a mess,” he says.

　　Silicon Valley in Kenya?

　　Promoting the information technology (IT) industry is one of Kenya's key development goals in the coming years - part of an ambitious agenda known as Vision 2030.

　　“We said, 'why don't we do a Silicon Valley here,' which has all the facilities such that when you get to work you know you would have power, you would have water, you would have electricity,” says Ndemo. “Konza City will be the first smart, green city in Africa.”

　　Kenya's IT industry has been on a major upswing in the past few years, driven largely by advances in mobile phone technology. The World Bank says mobile phone subscriptions⁹ in Kenya rose by more than 25 percent between June 2010 and December of last year, while Internet users increased by 60 percent. Kenya is also the birthplace of the world's first mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa.

　　As in the original Silicon Valley, much of Kenya's homegrown innovation is taking place inside small tech communities and social groups.  The most well-known is called iHub, a meeting space, coffee shop and workshop in Nairobi where software developers, engineers and other creative minds come together to brainstorm¹⁰ new ideas.

　　In a sense, Konza City is an attempt to capture the creative community spirit on a larger scale and to include some light manufacturing capacity as well.  Erik Hersman, the founder¹¹ of iHub, is cautiously optimistic about the plans.

　　“I think it is viable¹², but its not just about building it and they will come.  It's providing all the other incentives¹³ that are needed to make it a really attractive location,” he says.

　　The other challenge, Hersman says, will be keeping it “tech focused.”  He says that when developers get in there “they're going to start selling space to whoever will pay them.”

　　Konza City is expected to cost about $10 billion, which will be funded mostly through public-private partnerships¹⁴, with the Kenyan government footing up to $1 billion of the bill for new infrastructure¹⁵.

　　Who Will Come?

　　Some major technology companies have announced plans to expand their businesses in Kenya.  The U.S.-based computer company IBM announced plans this month to establish an innovation hub in Nairobi to increase its exposure in Africa.  In February, Finland's Nokia said it too would fund a research center to support local developers.  Ndemo says companies like these have expressed interest in Konza, but it is a little too early to say who, if anyone, has actually committed.

　　The general manager for Microsoft in East and Southern Africa, Louis Onyango Otieno, has been on the job for 15 of Microsoft's 16 years in Nairobi.  He fully¹⁶ supports the idea of Konza City, but says Microsoft has not decided¹⁷ whether it will buy in.

　　“We haven't got to a point where we're sitting back and saying 'Are we doing that or not?'  We're pretty much doing what we've been doing and if that's where it goes, that's where it goes,” he says.

　　Otieno has no doubt that innovation will continue to thrive in East Africa, Konza or no Konza, and says attracting investors is like collecting iron with a magnet.

　　“If that facility, or that initiative is designed to enhance the goals of a private investor⁴, it's a no-brainer, they will go,” he says.

　　Konza is not the first attempt at a planned city in Kenya.  A $5 billion residential¹⁸ project called Tatu City was supposed to break ground last year.  But the deal has been held up in court by a lawsuit¹⁹ between developers and shareholders²⁰.

　　Konza City was supposed to break ground in April of this year, but it will also be delayed as the government continues to look for a master developer.  It will be at least a year before the first buildings go up.

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

9 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 brainstorm   

vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策

参考例句：

• The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other.她们每个月聚会两次，在一起出谋献策，为各自制定生意目标。
• We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company.我们可以集体讨论，列出该公司中最有影响的人员的名单。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

13 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

19 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

20 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任