US construction company Bechtel is eyeing Sh300 billion contract to build an expressway between Nairobi and Mombasa.
Bechtel has told the National Treasury that the superhighway, whose construction is expected to start in July this year, will generate double the money spent to build it over the next 25 years.
In a meeting with Treasury officials last week, Bechtel executives presented the firm’s budget estimate for the 473-kiometre road.
The road will be the first high-speed motorway in the region and is expected to cut travel time between the two largest Kenyan cities by half.
“The financing model was reviewed on March 13, 2018 with National Treasury, and shows a net cash positive position of $5.7 billion (Sh570 billion) for the Government of Kenya over 25 years under the Bechtel government-to-government model,” the contractor says in an executive note seen by the Business Daily.
“The Bechtel model will require the Government of Kenya to record debt obligations on the government’s books,” Bechtel said.
The project will be financed by US Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). It will take three years to complete it.
“The project can start construction in July 2018, with the first useable section of the expressway to be delivered in early 2020, and an additional 50 km opening every six months thereafter," Betchel said.
"This sectional approach provides useable sections which can be tolled during construction.”
The new dual carriageway will have two lanes on each sides and will run parallel to the current Nairobi-Mombasa Road.
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