Adani looks to Africa, but Nairobi airport goes on strike
After the acquisition of the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania, the group controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani is in talks with the Kenyan government to lease the capital’s airport for 30 years. Fearing job redundancies, workers are opposed to the move. Meanwhile, the Indian conglomerate is getting involved Kenya’s energy sector. Back in India, an inquiry into its alleged share price manipulation is still ongoing.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of workers at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta Airport (JKIA) have gone on strike to protest a planned buyout by the Adani group, an Indian multinational conglomerate run by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who is linked to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Adani Group is trying to expand its business in Africa, despite a series of ongoing investigations into stock market scams and money laundering.
Lawyers and activists oppose the deal that would see the airport leased to the Indian multinational for 30 years in return for a US$ 1.85 billion investment.
Kenya's High Court this week temporarily halted the offer, pending a hearing put forward by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), which claim that the country can independently raise the same amount to modernise the airport.
For its part, the union representing airport workers said the deal would cut jobs and worsen working conditions. Others fear that profits from the airport, which currently contributes 5 per cent to Kenya's national GDP, will be lost.
The JKIA is one of the busiest air hubs on the continent, with 8.8 million passengers and 380,000 tonnes of cargo moved in 2022 and 2023, but it is plagued by power outages and leaky roofs.
For the Kenya Airports Authority, the agreement with the Adani group would add a second runway and upgrade the passenger terminal; meanwhile, the government has tried to reassure the unions by saying that the airport is not for sale.
This is not the only project by the Adani Group in Kenya (or Africa). Confirmation came yesterday that the Indian multinational wants to strike a deal with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), the national electricity company, to build transmission lines, a proposal that is still being evaluated, a government official told parliament.
In May, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. signed a 30-year concession with the Port Authority of Tanzania to operate the Container Terminal 2 at the Dar es Salaam Port.
The US .5 million investment would give Adani a majority stake in Tanzania International Container Terminal Services, which handles 83 per cent of the country's container volumes.
Adani Port is already the largest private port operator in India, with 30 per cent of all cargo movements along the coasts. It also acquired the port of Haifa, Israel, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, against its Chinese rivals.
Adani's acquisitions are part of a growing competition with Chinese groups, which are trying to push a new version of the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa where many countries expressed dissatisfaction with China’s initiatives.
In Africa, India, like China, seems to want to take on the role of leader of the global South. However, as Kenyans noticed during the recent strike, Swiss authorities have frozen US$ 310 million in connection with an investigation into money laundering and forgery of securities linked to the Adani group, which the Group immediately stated was unfounded.
In January last year, Hindenburg Research, a US investment research firm, published a detailed report accusing Adani of manipulating share prices.
In March, India's Supreme Court ordered the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which regulates the stock market, to investigate the matter.
Last month, Hindenburg Research accused SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch of conflict of interest because of her ties to Adani's offshore funds, a situation that is compromising the inquiry.
Five days ago, the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party, criticised the delays in the SEBI probe, saying that an inquiry that was supposed to last two months is still ongoing after a year and a half.
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