This archive report was first published on 12 August 2019.
Reports have emerged that the planned multi-billion-shilling Nairobi-Mombasa expressway, being built by American engineering company Bechtel, has been delayed due to a significant cost inflation.
According to The Star, the cost of the project was inflated by 66.7 percent from the initial $1.8 billion (approximately Sh185.7 billion) to $3 billion (Sh309.5 billion).
Published on August 5th, 2017, Kenya and Bechtel International signed a contract for the construction of the 485-kilometer road, which was initially set to commence in 2018 but was pushed to January 2019.
However, the project failed to take off in January 2019, and its commencement date was again pushed to June 2019. Despite this, works have not started to date.
US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter stated that the US government withheld funding to first ascertain whether the project is providing value for Kenyans' money.
“We are still working on finance. Kenya has a challenge of debt and we are wary of burdening Kenyans. At a cost half the price of rail and roads previously built, the highway will be built in segments, leveraging private investors to minimize government debt,” said McCarter.
When contacted for comment, Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia responded, “How can we talk about figures for a non-existent transaction?”
Despite the delay, the project remains viable, with a feasibility study carried out by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2015 declaring it a viable project.
The four-lane road aims to allow uninterrupted speeds of up to 120 km per hour, cutting travel time between Mombasa and Nairobi from 10 to four hours.
