Background

In November 2016, the Government of Kenya launched a Public Private Partnership programme for the development of three critical anchor road projects. The first to be procured was the Nairobi- Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway. The project connects the capital city to Nakuru, the 3rd largest city in Kenya*. It is the central leg of the corridor from the port city of Mombasa that serves the heavily populated and productive western Kenya, Kampala in Uganda, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and ultimately Rwanda.

The proposed development shall expand the road’s capacity and improve its quality, reduce travel times and stimulate economic activity along the corridor. The Project is a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain project for a shadow toll road concession for a period of 30 years including construction.

Discussions with the Government on the revised scope are ongoing which is expected to include:

• Widening the existing two-lane road to a four-lane separated highway, and O&M of A8 from Rironi to Mau summit (175km), as well as building the associated service lanes
• Building and O&M of service lanes (connecting lanes) and O&M of inherited stretches.

Stage:

Commercial Close

ESG/SDG Key Facts

The Project launched the detailed Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in compliance with IFC Performance Standards as well as the World Bank E&S standards in November 2020. The ESIA was then completed and submitted to the Kenyan Authorities and Lenders in December 2021 and following their review, publicly disclosed by the World Bank, IFC and African Development Bank in February 2022.

In Q2 2022, the Project Company and Contractor commenced the preparation of the various Management Plans required by Financial Close and shared those with lenders – the project company worked throughout Q1 2023 on integrating the comments received by lenders. On completion of the scope review exercise with the Government in Q3 2023, the Project company will review the ESIA in consultation with the Lenders to confirm if any additional work is required on the ESIA and determine the most efficient process for its performance.

Source (*) Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (21 February 2020)