Fujian Firm to Build $100 Million Industry Park in Kenya

The real estate arm of Fujian Construction Engineering Group Co. will build a 602 million yuan ($94.6 million) industrial park in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, marking its latest project in the East African nation as Beijing encourages such infrastructure investment.

China Wu Yi Co. Ltd. will develop the site, measuring about 1.6 square kilometers (0.6 square miles), into a center for product development and manufacturing, as well as logistics, taking advantage of its location in the African country’s main port city, Wu Yi said in an announcement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Friday.

The company will provide 50% of the project’s funding, while the remainder will come from bank loans, the company said.

“This investment is primarily designed to create a Sino-African cooperative capacity platform for the development of construction materials, textiles and trade-related logistical services, as well as other supporting services,” Wu Yi said. It added the investment will not have any impact on the company’s 2018 financial performance.

The project is the latest of a recent string by Wu Yi in Kenya, as Beijing pushes companies to make such investments in developing-market infrastructure under its Belt and Road Initiative. That initiative is aimed at pushing Chinese companies to export their skills acquired over the last two decades of building up their home country’s own infrastructure, with many such offshore projects supported by funding from China.

Last year, Wu Yi announced it will spend about $100 million to construct a building materials complex in Machakos county, to the south of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. In 2016, the company also announced plans to build a $38 million industrial base in Nairobi dedicated to the development and manufacture of prefabricated building materials.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)