Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to leave for Paris to sign a public private partnership (PPP) deal worth Sh180 billion for dualling of the 190-kilometer Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road project.
The President will meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris, where they will sign and preside over the inking of several other PPP agreements on water, infrastructure and energy.
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, which once complete will be the country’s first toll highway outside Nairobi.
Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit road project
The road project is a key segment of the Northern Corridor expected to significantly cut the travel time for both people and goods, reducing the cost of doing business time between Nairobi and Mau Summit. It entails expansion of 175Km road from Rironi to Mau Summit into a four-lane dual carriageway and re-carpeting of Rironi – Mai Mahiu – Naivasha Road.
Under the PPP, the private sector will raise finances for the road project, design, construct, maintain and operate the road on pre-agreed standards and specifications. This will be the second road the country has signed PPP on after it handed over the Sh59 bn JKIA-Westland’s Expressway to China Road and Bridge Corporation. The concession for the road is within a time frame of 30 years.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) awarded the tender for the road to French firm Meridiam International, with others in the consortium including Vinci Highways SAS and Vinci Concessions SA.
The road upon completion will also compliment the standard gauge railway (SGR) services between Naivasha and Malaba Border. This will be the President’s first trip post Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the Kenyan airspace closed for both domestic and international flights.
