The government was not able to ink a multi-billion financing deal for JKIA railway with France during the recent visit to Paris by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This has effectively put the €128 million (Sh. 16.3 billion) infrastructure plan on hold. According to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport James Macharia, the Uhuru visit did not yield the desired result which was the signing of the deal to fund the construction of the five kilometre metre-gauge line linking the airport to standard-gauge rail (SGR) terminus in Syokimau.
Last year, Kenya and France had agreed on a series of projects that would include development of the Nairobi Central Business District-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) commuter railway line and the 400KV Menengai-Rongai electricity transmission line.
Following Uhuru’s visit to Paris, a release from State House had said that Uhuru and Macron’s meeting centred around projects like the expansion of the 233km Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road expected to kick off in September following a deal struck by the two leaders in October last year. The Sh. 160 billion project is one of the largest public-private partnership (PPP) programmes in Eastern Africa, and expected to expand the Northern Corridor road into a four-lane dual carriageway.
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The contract awarded to a French consortium of Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund and Vinci Concessions SAS involves design, finance, construction, operation and maintenance of the road. The firm will recoup its expenses through tolls for 30 years.