A private firm that has funded the construction of the Nairobi Expressway will collect toll fees from Kenyans for nearly 30 years. This will be done to recover the money used to fund the construction. According to reports, the period that the firm will collect toll fees will amount to 27 years.
According to the Kenya National Highways Authority, KeNHA, the private firm will be given outright concession to operate and run the expressway. “The private company will be granted a concession to build, operate and transfer the project for 30 years that includes a construction period of three years and thereafter an operation & maintenance period of 27 years,” KenHA said.
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Alongside the Nairobi Expressway, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) will build the 27.1km road linking the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Nairobi-Nakuru highway. This project will take an estimated three years to complete.
“KeNHA did not disclose the firm but said the deal has already been signed paving the way for construction of Kenya’s first double-decker expressway at an estimated cost of Sh. 59 billion and financed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model,” a related report that appeared in the Business Daily on Wednesday said.
The Nairobi Expressway is expected to include a four-lane and six-lane dual carriageway within the existing median of Mombasa Road/Uhuru Highway/Waiyaki Way and 10 interchanges.
The toll charges will be kept in a special fund to finance maintenance of the highways and repayment of other roads built by private contractors but fail to generate enough funds to pay investors due to low number of users.
The Nairobi Mombasa Expressway that had been designated for construction by an consortium of American firms ran into headwinds after the US firms raised concerns over the project’s viability. This project was estimated to cost over Sh. 300 billion. It was highly criticized by Kenyans, with many feeling the Nairobi Nakuru Highway should have been given priority instead.