This archive report was first published on 12 September 2021.
The Nairobi Expressway's cost has surged by an additional Sh. 7 billion, bringing the total estimated cost to Sh. 72.8 billion. This new figure was revealed by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), the parent firm of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which is funding and constructing the expressway.
According to the updated figures, the Expressway will cost approximately $668 million, up from the initial estimate of $599 million (Sh. 65.2 billion). The China Communications Construction Company stated that the value of the contract for the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project amounts to RMB 4,602 million, equivalent to around $668 million.
As of now, the firm has invested 1.19 billion RMB (Sh. 20.3 billion) in building the Expressway. Under the previous estimate, the firm was expected to generate a profit of Sh. 106 billion over the 27-year operation period, translating to approximately Sh. 4 billion per year.
Under the new concession agreement, the China Road and Bridge Corporation will be granted a 30-year concession to operate and manage the expressway, including a three-year construction period and a 27-year operation and maintenance period.
Motorists using the Nairobi Expressway, which will connect Mlolongo to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), will pay between $1 (Sh. 109.4) and $15 (Sh. 1,641) depending on the size of their vehicles and the distance traveled.
The China Road and Bridge Corporation is also working on the Sh. 474 billion Mombasa-Naivasha standard gauge rail (SGR) project in Kenya. The Nairobi Expressway project 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.
