JKIA Greenfield Airport will boost Kenya’s trade

The opening of Hilton Hotel in December 1969 was a defining moment and so was the launch of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in 1978. It was the best airport in Africa. However, for more than 35 years, very little was done on JKIA.

MENTAL FLIGHT

In the meantime, many airports in Africa were being built. Worthy of note is OR Tambo in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1991, it was a tiny airport but today, there is nothing like it in Africa. Post-apartheid, ORT has changed the landscape of travel in and out of South Africa.

Dubai, the acclaimed world number one airport for international passengers was hardly known 20 years ago. Today, however, it is a state-of-the-art facility that is constantly being modernised.

Then, in 1973 the newly opened Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) for the first —and only time — in Africa, hosted the Annual General Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. The iconic building was way beyond its time hence its choice as a venue for the two meetings of the most important financial institutions globally. If there was no KICC, which was by then Kenya’s most expensive project, there was no chance the two meetings would have taken place here. This was a testimony of the foresight and wisdom of the founding administration that saw the value of such defining landmarks. The leadership had the capacity to take a mental flight and place Kenya at the apex of Africa, against all odds.

What lessons can be learnt for Kenya to be a nation that distinguishes itself from its contemporaries in Africa?

JKIA is under-performing below its potential as a continental gateway. Nairobi has no competitor with respect to its location, and above all, Kenya has enviable climatic conditions. Besides, it’s the fourth station of the United Nations Offices after New York, Geneva, and Vienna. It houses key United Nations agencies and offices, making it the unrivalled diplomatic capital in Africa.

OPPORTUNITIES

Today, JKIA is a patch work here and there and looks fairly ordinary. It is being overtaken by regional airports yet Kenya has the economic capacity and the brains to build a world-class airport that can accommodate major airlines and passenger traffic if only we can invest in the Greenfield terminal, whose construction was stopped.

If the government cannot fund the infrastructure due to financial constraints, it can opt for the new normal of Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) using private capital.

If we take the example of Dubai, there is absolutely nothing to compare with Nairobi in terms of our tourism assets, business opportunities and location for those seeking destinations to visit in Africa.

Given that Africa is full of enormous opportunities waiting to be harvested, we should take cue or JKIA will be relegated to be just another airport. We can build an awesome facility befitting the future aspirations of travellers. The cost of waiting for fire, like we did to rebuild JKIA to its present state, is too costly to contemplate. We must put up facilities that are comparable to what is found in the Far East and Dubai, reflective of how a serious nation should think generationally beyond its time. This is what has been characterised as sustainable development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

GAME-CHANGING

Passenger traffic and tourism worldwide is a growing phenomenon. If Kenya wants to market itself globally, it is an absolute necessity for us to invest in a modern and bigger airport that is globally competitive. Despite some people’s opposition, no nation has or can develop without game-changing projects.

 In addition to projects like Konza, Lappset and the Standard Gauge Railway, the other most important one is making sure that JKIA becomes an ongoing construction site.

This is an investment asset that will pay off as long as we have the courage and wisdom to make the decision and implement it despite the current challenges the country is facing. 

More importantly, this project will give Kenyans a sense of optimism that things will be better in the future.

However, we cannot afford to mark time.

Good times are created and we cannot wait for them. Mr President, I beseech you to embark on this project, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today.

Mr Kabage, a respected businessman and advocate of the High Court, died on Friday night in a road accident a few days after submitting his monthly Sunday Nation column to the Editor. This article has been published posthumously as a tribute.