Construction sector growth triples as road projects restart

Construction of Kenol - Sagana - Marwa highway. [File, Standard]

Growth in the construction sector more than tripled in the third quarter of 2025, largely attributed to the resumption of road projects.

According to the latest report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the construction sector grew by 6.7 per cent in the third quarter of last year, from a negative growth of 2.6 per cent recorded in the same period in 2024.

This growth, according to the report, is partly attributed to increased cement consumption and more imports of iron and steel in the period.

However, when previous quarterly reports are juxtaposed, the growth has been largely driven by improved imports of bitumen.

Bitumen, a by-product of crude oil, is a key ingredient in road construction due to its adhesive and waterproof qualities.

According to the latest quarterly report, the quantity of imported bitumen increased by 7.3 per cent.

“The quantity of imported bitumen increased by 7.3 per cent to stand at 19,698.5 metric tonnes in the third quarter of 2025 from 18,353.0 metric tonnes imported during the corresponding quarter of 2024,” reads the latest quarterly report.

During the period under review, cement consumption is also reported to have increased by 16.2 per cent to reach 2.7 million metric tonnes.

This is as iron and steel imports increased to 336,262 metric tonnes compared to 220,284 metric tonnes brought in in a similar quarter of 2024.

In December, National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi confirmed that the government had paid all pending bills owed to road contractors as of December 2024.

This payment had been made possible by the new securitisation model, where Sh7 of the Sh25 fuel levy imposed on a litre of fuel is ring-fenced and collateralised through the Kenya Roads Board (KRB), to ensure pending bills in the sector are honoured.

Last year, KRB floated a Sh175 billion bond backed by this model. At least 580 road projects had stalled due to a cash crunch, according to government records.

This is evidenced by a drop in the amount of bitumen imported into the country as documented by KNBS in the third quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025.

Comparatively, in the third quarter of 2024, the sector contracted by 2.6 per cent compared to a growth of 4.0 per cent realised in the third quarter of 2023. In the period, cement consumption declined by 10.0 per cent to stand at 2.2 million metric tonnes.

“The quantity of imported bitumen decreased by 40.9 per cent to 18,353.0 tonnes in the third quarter of 2024 from 31,053.5 tonnes imported in the third quarter of 2023,” reads the KNBS quarterly gross domestic product report for the third quarter of 2024.

In the first quarter of 2025, the amount of imported bitumen stood at 14,200.0 thousand metric tonnes. This was a drop from 17,238.0 thousand metric tonnes recorded in the first quarter of 2024. In this period, the sector grew by 3.0 per cent.

However, in the second quarter of 2025, the sector grew by 5.7 per cent. Cement consumption increased by 23.9 per cent to reach 2,424 thousand metric tonnes.

“Similarly, the quantity of imported bitumen increased to 22,659.3 metric tonnes, up from 15,566.2 metric tonnes imported during the corresponding quarter of 2024,” the report says.