Launching of the FEXTE (component 3) in Nairobi !

The technical cooperation between CODATU and the Kenyan Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works (MoTIHUD) is officially launched! The cooperation is one of the 3 components of the French Development Agency funded FEXTE meant to support the modernization of the railway infrastructures and the implementation of the BRT line 3.

Following the arrival in Nairobi of CODATU’s cooperation officer, Laure Lefébure, in late October 2021, a launching mission took place from 7^th to 9^th of December, featuring as well Solène Baffi, CODATU’s project manager, and François-Xavier Perin, ex-DG of RATP Dev and senior expert in this cooperation.

The technical assistance (TA) aims at providing capacity building support for the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NaMATA). Created in February 2017, NaMATA has been established to implement and coordinate an integrated metropolitan-wide public transport system, including the creation of a Bus Rapid Transit network, the rehabilitation and extension of the urban rail network (commuter rail line) and the coordination of a Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) system. Entrusted with substantial competencies, NaMATA evolves in a rather fragmented institutional landscape.

The TA’s launching meeting was held on 8^th December 2021 in the presence of NaMATA’s Acting Director, Eng. Michael Njonge. Various mobility actors were attending, including State agencies (NTSA, KURA, NMS, MoTIHUD), international donors involved in Nairobi (GIZ, JICA, MCC, AFD), UN-Habitat, the non-governmental organization ITDP, and Transamo, a company also involved in the FEXTE. The meeting’s objective was to introduce CODATU and its technical cooperation with NaMATA and start a conversation on the ongoing mobility projects in Nairobi. Other major actors, such as the European Union have been met during the mission. CODATU’s also had the opportunity to explore the future BRT line 2, which will be launched in 2022.

All along the 2-year cooperation, CODATU will support NaMATA in its internal structuring and institutional positioning, through capacity building and training activities, technical visits in France and other African cities, and peer-to-peer exchanges.