Over 4,500 new parking spaces mooted in Nairobi

Plans are underway to create more parking spaces within the Nairobi Central Business District, aimed at easing congestion. The proposal by the Nairobi County Government to build a parking building under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework has been approved by the PPP Unit at Treasury.

If the project is realised, the 11 multi-storey parking silo will provide about 4,500 new parking spaces. It will also house commercial facilities. “A feasibility report has already been carried out by the Nairobi County Government and handed to us,” said PPP Unit Director Eng Stanley Kamau. “We will be meeting next week to evaluate and deliberate the report before we forward it to the PPP Committee, together with the recommendations for approval.”

The multi-storey car park and commercial facility will be located between Aga Khan Walk and Taifa Road, off Harambee Avenue. Once the feasibility study is approved, the county government will invite requests for qualification to private parties by notice. The feasibility was to determine the project’s viability, considering the legal requirements, affordability, social-economic and environmental impacts among other issues.

Kamau said use of the PPP framework in the project will be beneficial to devolved unit, private sector and the public. “The county currently does not have the resources and “the money it is getting is not adequate to be able to invest in such a project. The advantage of using PPP is that the private sector will come in, put in their money and will be able to recover it within years,” he said.

“Because they will be collecting more than enough, they will have a sharing mechanism with the county government. It is a win-win situation. The county will not invest anything but will still earn revenue. Once the contract ends, the building will be reverted back to the county.”