RSSKenya plans to start tendering in May for toll-road contracts estimated by the government to be worth $2 billion to improve the efficiency of the East African nation’s biggest commercial routes, according to Bloomberg.
The contracts will be in addition to the 45 deals worth about US$3.2 billion that the government will start awarding as early as next week, to double the nation’s paved-road network through an annuity program.
The government is planning to introduce five toll projects covering about 800 kilometres (500 miles), including a new 482-kilometre dual-carriage highway between the port city of Mombasa and the capital, Nairobi, Stanley Kamau, director of the Public Private Partnership Unit at the Treasury, said in an interview this week.
Kenya is retaining5019 PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on the development and maintenance of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, while it hired Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats of India for the same scope of work for a new 176-kilometre highway connecting the capital to the south-western city of Nakuru. Intercontinental consultants will also advise on the operation and maintenance of the 80-kilometer Nairobi-Thika road, according to the Treasury.
The Treasury is drawing from a US$40-million World Bank loan to carry out feasibility studies for the projects and partly finance land acquisition.
Kenya is seeking funds from private sources to support its plans expand transport infrastructure and create a regional transportation hub that will help it accelerate economic growth to 10 percent by 2017 from 5.4 percent last year.
“With the private sector, we can do what government aspires for in infrastructure development faster, than when relying on public funds alone,” Kamau said. “We should have toll guidelines by April, then start the tendering process.”
John Musonik, infrastructure principal secretary at the Transport Ministry said winners of the first contracts under the road annuity program could be announced next week. The government is setting up a Road Annuity Fund to expedite construction of roads in a country where less than 10 per cent of the 161,000-kilometer network is paved, according to the Kenya Roads Board.
The contracts will be in addition to the 45 deals worth about US$3.2 billion that the government will start awarding as early as next week, to double the nation’s paved-road network through an annuity program.
The government is planning to introduce five toll projects covering about 800 kilometres (500 miles), including a new 482-kilometre dual-carriage highway between the port city of Mombasa and the capital, Nairobi, Stanley Kamau, director of the Public Private Partnership Unit at the Treasury, said in an interview this week.
Kenya is retaining
The Treasury is drawing from a US$40-million World Bank loan to carry out feasibility studies for the projects and partly finance land acquisition.
Kenya is seeking funds from private sources to support its plans expand transport infrastructure and create a regional transportation hub that will help it accelerate economic growth to 10 percent by 2017 from 5.4 percent last year.
“With the private sector, we can do what government aspires for in infrastructure development faster, than when relying on public funds alone,” Kamau said. “We should have toll guidelines by April, then start the tendering process.”
John Musonik, infrastructure principal secretary at the Transport Ministry said winners of the first contracts under the road annuity program could be announced next week. The government is setting up a Road Annuity Fund to expedite construction of roads in a country where less than 10 per cent of the 161,000-kilometer network is paved, according to the Kenya Roads Board.
