The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has cancelled a Privately Initiated Proposal (PIP) to construct the 459-kilometre Nairobi–Mombasa (Usahihi) Expressway under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The mega-billion project was to link Mlolongo in Machakos County to Bonje in Mombasa County and be completed within five years. It was awarded in 2022 to Korean Overseas Infrastructure and Development Corporation (KIND) after U.S. firm Bechtel Engineering rejected the government’s proposed financing model.
KeNHA said evaluation by the Contracting Authority, PPP Committee, and the National Treasury found the plan failed to meet the required criteria and should be abandoned. The committee advised the contractor to consider restructuring the project by expanding the existing A8 highway and resubmitting the plan for a fresh determination under Section 43(12) of the PPP Act, 2021.
The original proposal relied on a toll-fee business model in which the investor would finance construction and recover costs through user charges.
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