@Spear

Business
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Kenya is seeking funds from the United States (US) for the expansion of the busy Mombasa-Nairobi highway into a dual carriageway.

The move represents a break with the government’s tradition of raising money for high-profile projects from China.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) said it has opened talks with America’s export-import (Exim) bank for the financing of the multibillion-shilling project.

“Our target is to complete the whole stretch by 2022,” KeNHA director-general Peter Mundinia said during an Infrastructure summit at State House, Nairobi.

The 485-kilometre highway is crucial for trade in the region since it connects the Mombasa port to hinterland markets, including landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

But it has remained a single-carriage way for long despite increased use by thousands of buses and trucks ferrying goods and people daily, making it uncompetitive.

Ferried by road

A study by IBM Corporation says Kenya loses in excess of Sh50 million a day in wasted man hours due to traffic snarl-ups.

Over 90 per cent of goods landing at Mombasa port are ferried by road and the remaining by railway, underlining the importance of the highway in the face of growing cargo.

The Treasury last year picked a consortium led by consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to offer transaction advisory for the expansion.

Eng Mundinia said the project will be financed under the public-private partnership model but declined to offer the cost estimates and cash sought from the US.

The KeNHA also plans to remove all bumps on Thika Road to make it an express way.

The agency is moving to construct 13 more footbridges to be added to the current 18 on the road to ease traffic jams at various spots with bumps.
The project is set to cost Sh650 million, based on the estimated Sh50 million cost of each footbridge, according to KeNHA.

Several sections along the highway have bumps and rumble strips meant to slow down traffic to allow for pedestrians to cross.

Some of the crossing spots yet to get footbridges, such as near Survey of Kenya, have become notorious for snarl-ups during morning and evening rush hours.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-seeks-US-funds-for-dual--Mombasa-Road/539546-3336836-9dpw8f/index.html

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Shs 50 million for one bridge?
What materials are they making them out of?

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Is there an American EXIM bank??

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the two footbridges at Mombasa Rd (Bellevue and GM) cost a total of 300m

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someone should be shot for this! blatant thievery…

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aii maximum 30m for both steel and concrete tu

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It was actually 363 MILLION !!!

EACC to investigate pricing of Mombasa Road footbridges - Business Daily

The Mumo Matemu-led anti-corruption agency has launched investigations into alleged inflation of construction costs for two footbridges on Nairobi’s Mombasa Road.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), through a contractor, built the two bridges at Bellevue and General Motors sections of the busy A109 highway at a cost Sh363.1 million.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) spokesman Yassin Amaro said the agency will publish its findings in a month’s time.

“We are interrogating the entire tendering process. We are looking at everything from the design, specifications and award of the tender,” Mr Amaro said.

The two footbridges are being built by H. Young & Company at a price of Sh185.8 million for the General Motors facility and Sh177.3 million for Bellevue.

The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) financed the construction work using money from the road maintenance fuel levy fund.

Structural engineers say pricing the footbridges, which do not have fibreglass roofing or even two-way exits on each side of the road, at more than Sh150 million is suspect.

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Probably due to those silly structures they erected on one side of the bridges.

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Huyu anasimama wapi nikamvotie?

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Pia nmeona another story ati kenya wanangojea fund from france kujenga barabara. i ferkin hate france!! These guys show whenever minerals are found in a country. si ata basi wangeendea loan Afghanistan ama Iraq, hawa watafight wasahau tuna loan yao. Ama german or mother russia.

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Yes. There’s a UK one and and Indian one too. I think we are just used to the Chinese Exim Bank.

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@Meria Mata the Mombasa-Nairobi central corridor highway is the backbone of our economy until SGR is operational. This will be a case study for private, public, partnership projects on our roads. The masterplan is to privatize all A1 international road highways than link us and neighbouring countries to be a minimum 6 lanes dual highways that goods and people can travel fast on the Express highways. The usa is coming into the game very late but they are welcome to put their money in our infrastructure projects. They started will power generations, aircraft leasing financing and now roads. China construction companies are almost reaching the limits on the road projects they can take on at a time. However more Chinese construction companies are setting up shop. The good thing is that now all foreign companies are required to form joint partnerships with local construction companies to tender for contracts. That way we get technology transfer and employee more locals. However the biggest one of them all China Wu Yi has actually restructured so much that almost all its technical personnel are Kenyan’s from Engineers to technical staff and obviously the workers.

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Lakini do we need it to be dual now that sgr is almost complete? Si mlisema one train itatabeba over 80 containers thereby removing the same number of trucks on the road or what am i missing

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For once we are pro-actively planning our future needs before they are surplussed. Yes the SGR will take away more than half of the traffic on the road but the economy is still growing and the volumes keep going up. Let start preparing for the future now instead of always been reactive to situations. Importantly the financing is from PPP not public funds at the treasury. An expressway will lower accidents, allow shorter travel times and expand the economic activity further. If successful they should do the same to Malaba.

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that right there is an outright lie

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Keep on borrowing for shit we don’t even need, kweli what was sgr for?

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umeuliza nini sasa?

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Do you ever read the comments? who is borrowing what, this project is a PPP.

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Give me your rebuttal if any whoever you are?

Meanwhile read this:

The committee, however, insists that the Chinese firm has already exceeded the limits of the number of tenders that can go to a single contractor. Sources at the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) say the tender committee at the authority is caught up between a rock and a hard place because they don’t know whether to follow the rules or give in to pressure.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000211089/chinese-firms-dominance-in-major-projects-jolts-kenyan-contractors/?pageNo=1

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Kill corruption in Kenya and we’ll be half way there. Kibaki’s first term exemplified that we do not need to borrow heavily to develop as long as taxes are collected and channeled in the right manner. Waiguru walked away with stolen [B]billions of tax payers money.

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