Kenya’s President William Ruto has put on hold construction of the Mau Summit highway project. The road project which was initiated by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is a proposed Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway project that is part of part of Government of Kenya’s (GoK) First Mover Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.
The project which was initially meant to kick off in September 2021 has been awaiting the approval of President Ruto. It already project is procured as a 30-year PPP concession for improvement and upgrade of two main highways in Kenya – A8 and A8 South, mainly located in the Kiambu and Nakuru counties.
Mau Summit highway
The project comprises: widening of the 175km four-lane dual carriageway and Operation & Maintenance of the existing A8 road from Rironi to Mau Summit and strengthening and O&M of the existing 57.8 km 2 lane A8 South from Rironi to Naivasha. The Bank has taken the E&S Coordinator role (with IFC) for this project. It is considering to provide a senior loan of up to USD150 million (UA107million) ADB NSO loan with a 20-year tenor and 3.5 years (42 months) grace period during construction.
Rift Valley Highway Limited (RVHL), a consortium led by Vinci Highways and Meridian was tasked to undertake the project and has already signed a design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer contract with the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
According to World Bank, the planned new bank lending include a possible IDA partial risk project guarantee on the $1.5 billion Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Toll Road with IFC participating as an investor