Recently, the signing ceremony for the renovation project of the water supply network in the central urban area of Nairobi, Kenya was held at the Athi Water Authority in Kenya. Sun Jianqiong, General Manager of China Overseas Ethiopia Company, attended the ceremony with the consortium project team. Yin Yuxiang, Deputy General Manager of the company, and Eng Joseph Kamau, General Manager of Athi Water Bureau, respectively signed the contract on behalf of the contractor and the owner. The implementation of this project is not only a major breakthrough for China Overseas Land Development in the water industry in Kenya, but also another example of Chinese builders adhering to the goal of "high standards, sustainability, and benefiting people's livelihoods" and deeply participating in infrastructure construction in Africa.

Kenya, as an important country in East Africa, has always faced challenges such as uneven distribution of water resources and aging infrastructure. According to the data from the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Nairobi, as a mega city with a population of over 4 million, still faces a daily water supply shortage of up to 150000 cubic meters, and the problems of unstable water supply and uneven water quality are particularly prominent in some areas. The renovation project of the water supply network in the central urban area is one of the key projects promoted by the Kenyan government to implement the goal of "clean water and sanitation for all" in the "Kenya 2030 Vision Plan". The project aims to comprehensively upgrade the existing water supply system, significantly enhance the stability and coverage of urban water supply through measures such as replacing old pipelines, optimizing pipeline layout, and improving pump station capacity, directly benefiting hundreds of thousands of residents in the region and helping them achieve clean, safe, and sustainable water supply goals.

As the leading party of the project consortium, CGCOC will coordinate the entire process management of project implementation. The company's general manager, Sun Jianqiong, stated that they will adhere to the principles of high standard construction, high-quality performance, and high-level cooperation, and fully apply the water engineering experience and professional technical advantages accumulated over 30 years in Africa to this project. This means that the pipeline leakage control technology, intelligent monitoring system, and efficient construction management system that Chinese companies have validated in similar projects are expected to be introduced into the urban upgrading and transformation of Nairobi.

More importantly, the project promises to implement a localization strategy. During the construction period, not only will it create a large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities for the local area, but it will also promote technology transfer and enhance Kenya's independent operation and maintenance capabilities through systematic skills training. This mode has gone beyond the simple construction contracting, and turned to the in-depth cooperation with equal emphasis on construction and empowerment, aiming to inject long-term power into the sustainable development of the local community economy.

From a broader perspective, this project is a solid progress of the "China Africa Water Resources Cooperation Project" under the framework of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation. It echoes the key direction of safeguarding people's livelihoods in the "Nine Projects" of China Africa cooperation, demonstrating China's commitment and responsibility to effectively help African countries alleviate infrastructure bottlenecks and improve people's livelihoods through sharing applicable technology and management experience. Keywords: the Belt and Road, the Belt and Road project news

With the signing of the contract, the project is about to enter the substantive promotion stage. The renewal of the water supply in this East African city will not only flow with cleaner tap water, but also create a clear spring of cooperation between China and Africa to jointly build the future.Editor/Cheng Liting