President Uhuru Kenyatta is to leave the country for Paris where he will take billions of shillings in debt for a road project.
The President is expected to sign a public-private partnership deal with Sh180 billion for dualling the 190-kilometer Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road.
Sonko News has established that the President will meet with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Elys’ee Palace in Paris, where they will sign and preside over the inking of several PPP agreements on energy, water, and infrastructure.
Kenya’s signing of the tolling concession pact with a consortium of French firms under Rift Valley Connect led by Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund will unlock the funding of the road – once completed it will be Kenya’s first toll highway outside Nairobi.
The project – a key segment of the Northern Corridor is expected to greatly reduce the travel time for both goods and people, reducing the cost of doing business. The road will also complement the standard gauge railway (SGR) services between Naivasha and Malaba Border.
The Kenya Highways Authority (KeNHA) in 2019 awarded the tender for the road French firm Meridiam International, with others in the consortium including Vinci Concessions SA and Vinci Highways SAS.
The project will be undertaken on a PPP basis that will see the consortium raise finances for the road, maintain, construct, design, and operate the road on pre-agreed standards and specifications.
Sources revealed that a tolling fund is expected to be established later this year.
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“The modalities of the agreement or the establishment of the tolling fund are not known yet,” a source with knowledge of the matter told Nation.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia previously said the Cabinet had decided to prioritize two PPP’s project to ease the nightmare for users between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Westlands, and those who use the Nairobi-Naivasha-Nakuru highway.
“We decided to give priority to two Public-Private Partnership projects,” he said.
Under the PPP model, investors are expected to raise finances for the road projects and design, maintain, construct, and operate then on pre-agreed standards and specifications. The concession of the project has been capped at 30 years.
