Kenya's Multi-Billion Project Nairobi Expressway

Kenya’s multi-billion project Nairobi Expressway
Initiation
In mid-October 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Nairobi Expressway.
The expressway is a 27 Km four lane dual carriage way, which runs along the median
strips of Mombasa Road (starting at Mlolongo), Uhuru Highway and Waiyaki Way,
(terminating at James Gichuru Road). It is to be tolled and will have ten interchanges.
The KShs. 62 Billion development is to be undertaken as a Public Private Partnership
with the China Road and Bridge Construction Corporation (Kenya) (CRBC) on a
build-operate-transfer model. That is, the concessionaire, CRBC, will finance, build
and operate the tolled road for 30 years during which it will recover its costs (with
interest) before transferring its operation to the Kenyan National Highways Authority
(KeNHA).The project faced opposition due to reports that it would hive off some 23
meters of Uhuru Park, which KeNHA considers part of the road reserve for Uhuru
Highway. Despite these assurances, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
Study Report (ESIA Study) still suggests that there will be significant impacts on
Uhuru Park and other ecologically sensitive areas around the Thika Interchange,
Chiromo, Nyayo Stadium and the Railways Golf Club.
Planning
The 473km-long Nairobi-Mombasa dual carriageway will be reconstructed to

bituminous standards. It will feature four lanes, which will be expandable to six lanes.
The high-speed expressway will have a closed toll system with 19 interchanges to be
built along the route. The existing highway has 29 bridges and several box and
concrete pipe culverts. It is also provided with grade-separation intersections to avoid
traffic congestion. The controlled-access expressway will allow vehicles to safely
travel at speeds up to 120km/h. The Nairobi Expressway will have a four-lane and
six-lane dual carriageway within the existing median of Mombasa Road, Uhuru
Highway, and Waiyaki Way as well as 10 interchanges. The section between the
Eastern and Southern bypasses will be a six-lane dual carriageway while the section
from to the Eastern Bypass and that from the Southern Bypass to James Gichuru will
be a four-lane dual carriageway. The elevated highway will begin near Ole Sereni
Hotel and run through the CBD along the Uhuru highway up to the James Gichuru
junction. Haile Selassie Road, Kenyatta Avenue, and University Way will be below
the elevated road.
Execution
The project broke ground in October with China Road and Bridge Corporation
(CRBC) as the contractor. Observing the pattern of construction works on site at the
Nairobi expressway reminds one of how the millipede moves. A well segmented body
with each segment carrying two pairs of legs. Movement cannot happen except in a
flawless wavelike motion propelling the body forward. Unless the energy transmitted
from the rear side of the body arrives very systematically to the front side, there is no
movement.
NIGHT SHIFT
As the sun sets in Nairobi and everything slows down, the lights are turned on for the
Nairobi Expressway project. Minimizing traffic disruptions remains a key objective in
the execution of the construction works being undertaken along one of the busiest
roads in the country. In the dead of the night, trucks ferrying materials can be seen
buzzing in and out of the work sites. Graders run up and down the layers of material
under powerful lights that provide the workers with the benefit of vision at night. At
night, as you drive from town past the JKIA turnoff section and up the overpass, a
look to your right reveals the Expressway at the centre alignment of the road, beaming
with activity. On site, the sound of engines running shift your mind away from the
evening chills. The people on ground are sharp and alive, quick to pick out and deal
with anything that looks out of the ordinary. Even as working at night minimises
traffic disruption, workers at night are required to be more alert to avoid accidents.
The implementation of construction works along the Nairobi Expressway both in
daytime and in night time will be a significant factor in the timely completion of the
project. This strategy is and will continue minimising traffic snarl ups that come with
road construction works along an extremely busy highway.
Closure
Upon completion, the road is expected to significantly reduce the time spent on
Mombasa road at rush hour from approximately two hours to between 10 and 15
minutes. The project is scheduled for completion by December 2022. Unveiled in
September 2016, the highway expansion project, which forms part of Kenya’s Vision
2030 development programme, is maintained by the Kenya National Highways
Authority (KeNHA) through a public-private partnership (PPP). The Nairobi
expressway project involves construction of an additional two lanes alongside the
existing highway and rehabilitation of the current lanes. The construction works were
initially expected to begin in 2018, but were delayed by several months and pushed to
2019. When fully operational in 2024, the Nairobi-Mombasa highway will become
the country’s first high-speed expressway.
Discuss project financing citing relevant working examples
Project finance is the funding (financing) of long-term infrastructure, industrial

projects, and public services using a non-recourse or limited recourse financial
structure. The debt and equity used to finance the project are paid back from the cash
flow generated by the project. Project financing is a loan structure that relies primarily
on the project's cash flow for repayment, with the project's assets, rights, and interests
held as secondary collateral. Project finance is especially attractive to the private
sector because companies can fund major projects off-balance sheet (OBS).
The KShs. 62 Billion development is to be undertaken as a Public Private Partnership

with the China Road and Bridge Construction Corporation (Kenya) (CRBC) on a
build-operate-transfer model. That is, the concessionaire, CRBC, will finance, build
and operate the tolled road for 30 years during which it will recover its costs (with
interest) before transferring its operation to the Kenyan National Highways Authority
(KeNHA).
The project follows the signing of a deal between the Kenyan government and China
Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to have the latter undertake the venture as a
concessionaire. CRBC will build the road on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis,
with a concession period of 30 years after which the project will be handed back to
the government. CRBC, which is expected to invest its own money, will recoup its
investment from toll fees paid by motorists using the expressway. There will be 10
tolling stations along the route. Project investors will recoup their costs through
modest pay-as-you-use fees at designated toll stations. The expressway is expected to
serve at least 25,000 vehicles per day,” the President’s Delivery Unit said in statement
last year.

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Kenya’s multi-billion project Nairobi Expressway

The 473km-long Nairobi-Mombasa dual carriageway will be reconstructed to

Discuss project financing citing relevant working examples

Project finance is the funding (financing) of long-term infrastructure, industrial

The KShs. 62 Billion development is to be undertaken as a Public Private Partnership

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