The planned Konza media digital city will cost twenty billion shillings to construct and generate about 50,000 jobs when complete.
The digital city to be constructed inside the Konza Technopolis aims to position Kenya as the digital hub for Africa.
ICT secretary Joe Mucheru says the funding of the city will be done through a mixture of debt and equity under a private public partnership model.
A feasibility study undertaken by Dohwa engineering company of South Korea has okayed the project terming it an economically viable digital city.
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Kenya is positioning itself as Africa’s premier digital center attracting global players such as Microsoft, Sony, Huawei among other pacesetters.
The global digital space is estimated to be around 1 trillion dollars in 2018 yet Africa contributes the least to this economic sector.
Kenya plans to use film, theater and emerging technology to win the heart of global digital giants. A feasibility study for the Konza Digital media city says the sector has the ability to employ 47,000 people once its completed.
The report says it will take 20 years to complete the project, with the consultant DOHWA engineering of South Korea urging the government to fast-track the digital city.
The digital city will occupy 65 acres under the Konza technopolis which is under construction. Mucheru says the government has sunk in more than 20 billion shillings to construct roads, sewer lines and connect the area to the national grid.
The government is also offering tax rebates to investors targeting the city. The feasibility study says investors will get value for money with annual investment returns standing at around 11 percent.
Already treasury is in talks with the south Korea investment bank which is willing to invest the seed capital under the proposed Konza development fund.
The Konza Technopolis city is a vision 2030 multi trillion-shilling smart city that seeks to propel Kenya into an African technology hub.