Mwale Medical and Technology City

A feasibility study carried out from 2007 to 2012 established the site of a proposed medical tourism and technology city in western Kenya. The lead investor Julius Mwale, a Kenyan technology entrepreneur and investor based in the US, assembled a team of technology and healthcare experts and companies from the US and enlisted them for phase one of the city which commenced in 2014 and was completed in 2016.[8]

Phase 1 encompassed a multi-billion shopping and residential complex, Hamptons Mall, with Mwal-mart Supermarket as the anchor. The mall hosts Mwal-mart Supermarket, Hamptons Cafe bed and breakfast, showroom and more than 90,000 square feet of private residences. Phase two commenced in June 2016 and ran to September 2017. This included the first section of 5,000 bed referral hospital, over 70 kilometers of roads, and more than 300 solar street lights. Phase 2 also included the first phase of 4,800 homes expected to host doctors and nurses. The final phase, from September 2017 to December 2020, includes the 36-hole golf resort and residences, an airport with the second shopping mall, a convention center and a water park connected to the hospital by a cable car. It will also have medical school, a technology park and a 144-megawatt gasification power plant.[9]

Since its initiation in 2015, MMTC has received widespread admiration from a majority of both local and foreign visitors who have toured the project to witness the significant progress being implemented across its project phases. Unlike several similar high-end projects which have often been dogged with controversy in Kenya, MMTC has not experienced any major challenges which may have led to its suspension.

The project's success has been attributed to its model of reaching out to locals (the Marama clan of the Luhya) within the project perimeter and establishing key contacts and relationships. This has seen most of them donate huge tracts of ancestral land to the project to benefit them and MMTC. In this scenario, their lives have been positively impacted since the poor families are blessed with newly constructed homes as well several rental units which act as residences for the ever-increasing number of project workers. In fact, MMTC has already created employment for over 1000 youths in the area. In return, the project has received key backing from these local stakeholders; a factor that is said to have significantly contributed in resisting the failed attempts by a few politicians and officials of the Kakamega County Government, who had hatched a plot to taint the image of the project and also suspend its construction due to unexplained approval issues.[10]

In August 2018, the Kakamega County Government, led by Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, agreed with the lead investor, Julius Mwale, to set aside past grievances and thus facilitate the timely completion of this community-backed project.[11]

With its emphasis on sustainable development, MMTC has already attracted globally-leading technology companies and hundreds of international investors. One such firm is the Miami-based Innova Eco Building System which invested US $40 million in 2019 to build a green eco panels manufacturing plant at MMTC for building the 4800 homes,[12] most of which have already been purchased pre-construction by investors from the US and elsewhere.[13] These homes, like all facilities in the city, will be powered using 100% renewable energy such as solar. Atlanta-based MCX Environmental Energy Corp has invested US $100 million to build a 30-megawatt solar power plant right in the city, to complement the city's other renewable energy solutions.[14]

Leading international superstars have also visited and partnered with MMTC, including Senegalese-American singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and actor Akon, whose Akoin platform will soon offer digital financial services to residents and businesses at MMTC.[15][16][17]

• Mwale Medical and Technology City (Official Page)
• Hamptons Hospital (Official Page)
• Hamptons Mall (Official Page)
• MMTC2020 (Official Facebook Page)
• MMTCkenya (Official Instagram Page)
• Paradise in the Village: Mwale Medical and Technology City (2018 YouTube promotional video)