The African Development Bank (AfDB) is set to lend a consortium led by French infrastructure firm Vinci KSh 17.5 billion for the construction of the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Business Daily reported that AfDB is one of the ten financiers who are set to fund the KSh 180 billion project.
Vinci secured a 30-year concession contract in 2019 to build and operate the highway.
The firm is expected to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the highway.
Vinci will recoup its finances using the revenues and income generated by the electronic toll collection system along the road for 30 years.
LAfDB funding represents 10 percent of the required funds for the multi billion project. The remaining cost of the project will be financed by the other 10 development financiers and institutions.
AfDB director-general for East Africa Nnenna Nwabufo confirmed the funding plans, noting that the lender will meet its boat to seek approval for the loan.
“We are finalising our funding plans for our board to consider. We are looking at $150 million,” she said.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) picked the Rift Valley Connect consortium, comprising Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund and Vinci Concessions SAS as the preferred bidder for the project.
The project will also involve widening the existing Rironi- Mai Mahiu–Naivasha road to becoming a seven-metre carriageway with two-metre shoulders on both sides.
It will also include the construction of a four-kilometre elevated highway through Nakuru town, and building and improvement of interchanges along the highway.
