The government has announced that it is finalizing an agreement with France to facilitate funding for the upgrading of the Nairobi Commuter Railway.

Speaking during a joint press conference with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne, Prime Cabinet Secretary  Musalia Mudavadi said Kenya will receive a Kes 18 billion loan to modernize its metropolitan railway line.

“This project aligns with Kenya’s sustainable urban development initiatives, aiming to enhance transport services and mobility in the Nairobi metropolitan area.”

Further, he said that the two countries have also agreed to expedite the implementation of a key project to create eight socio-sports and cultural complexes throughout the country that will be co-financed by the two countries to the tune of 76. 8 million dollars.

For his part, Sejourne said that the two countries also agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation on climate action, step up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prioritize green growth to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity.

The two ministers called for strengthening access to sustainable energy and welcomed Africa’s green industrialization initiative and transition launched by Kenya.

They committed to addressing the full lifecycle of plastics and plastic pollution in all its dimensions, including primary plastic polymers and associated chemicals.

The ministers also emphasized the need to further preserve, protect, and restore critical ecosystems, including forests and other wooded land, wetlands such as peatlands and mangroves and the ocean that are the main natural carbon sinks and biodiversity reservoirs.