Rironi-Mau Summit road project snatched from France by China

The Chinese may have snatched a major Kenyan road infrastructure project from the French, which they are now poised to develop.

The Rironi-Mau Summit road, which had been awarded to a consortium of French firms, was among the issues that were discussed by President William Ruto and Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. 

The project that will be developed by the Chinese will however be bigger, with the road now extending all the way to the Kenya-Uganda border town of Malaba.

“We also agreed to discuss regional infrastructure projects such as the expansion of SGR, and the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba dual carriageway,” the President posted on his X (Twitter) handle following the meeting with President Xi.

The award to the French, which was done during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term, was cancelled earlier this year. Kenya is expected to compensate the French firms for the termination of the contract.

The construction of the road was among the issues that anchored a state visit to France by Uhuru in October 2020, during which the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA signed a commercial agreement with the French consortium.

The Rift Valley Highway, had been awarded the job to design, source for funds and construct the road under the Public Private Partnership model. It was then expected to operate the road for 26 years while charging motorists to use the road and recover its investments.

Rift Valley Highways had been formed as a special purpose vehicle by Vinci Highways, Vinci Concessions and Meridiam Infrastructure Fund, to deliver the project. The 190 kilometre road had been projected to cost Sh180 billion. The project also entailed the expansion of the Rironi-Mai Mahiu-Naivasha road. The road was supposed to be partially tolled, with users expected to pay to use certain segments of the road but open in sections where there would no alternatives.

A tentative toll tariff by Kenha showed that owners of saloon cars will pay Sh6 per kilometre to use the road while heavy commercial vehicles will pay up to Sh24.

In cancelling the contract, Kenya cited among other things high toll fees and said it would look for a concessionaire that would offer fair terms to road users. It also noted that the deal signed with the French firms had transferred certain unnecessary risks to the government, including the requirement that in case the firms failed to meet their revenue collection targets, the government would pay the difference. 

China, it appears, has also agreed to finance the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway, having rejected it earlier.

In 2020, the Chinese government declined to finance the extension of the railway from Naivasha to Malaba. At the time, China noted that the planned railway needed “sufficient proof of viability”, casting doubt on the viability of the entire project, including the Mombasa-Nairobi-Naivasha phases, which had been financed by Chinese lenders and built by Chinese contractors.

China also turned down Kenya’s request to extend part of the funding for extension of the railway as a grant. Kenya had requested for a 50 per cent grant and at the same time asked for the balance, which would be a loan, to have more relaxed terms.

Following the rejection, Kenya upgraded the old metre gauge railway from Naivasha to Malaba that is then linked by a 20 kilometre SGR line between the Naivasha SGR station at Mai Mahiu and Longonot.

In May 2024, the government revived plans to extend the railway and said it would be borrowing Sh689 billion ($5.3 billion) to extend it from Naivasha to Malaba.

“Through our bilateral cooperation with China, the Mombasa-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway, the Nairobi Expressway and many rural roads have been built, opening up the country and making Kenya a key transport hub not just in Eastern Africa but the continent,” Ruto posted on X.

“Kenya and China have excellent and cordial diplomatic relations. These ties have been mutually beneficial to our two countries, phenomenally transforming Kenya's railway, road and port infrastructure, and deepening people to people exchanges.”

Additionally, President Xi agreed to allow Kenya's agricultural products access to the Chinese market, further strengthening the economic ties between the two nations.