Kenya opened a $1.5 billion Chinese-built railway line linking Nairobi to Naivasha on Wednesday, despite delays in building an industrial park in the Rift Valley town to encourage freight.
The extension links to another line funded and built by China, a $3.2 billion line between the port of Mombasa and Nairobi that opened in 2017 but is so far underutilized for cargo services.
Upgrading Kenyan railways has been part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative, multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects aimed at improving land and maritime trade routes between China and Europe, Asia and Africa.