A consortium of private firms has been given the go-ahead to build and privately run a 530km road.
The consortium, going by the name Lamu Road Consortium (LRC), will finance the designing and construction of the Sh62 billion ($620 million) road that starts at Lamu through Garissa and terminates at Isiolo.
Works on the project are expected to start next year, with completion due in four years. The consortium will manage the road until 2047.
It is not clear how the firm is expected to recoup its investment, but this might include tolling, in which case motorists will pay for using the road.
Commercial agreement
LRC, which comprises South Africa’s Group Five Proprietary Ltd (which is the consortium leader) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, among other firms, Tuesday signed a commercial agreement for the design, finance, and building of the road.
It will operate the road for 25 years after which it will revert to the Kenya National Highways Authority. The road will form part of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor.
In a statement Tuesday, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the consortium had over the past two years privately undertaken studies on the project.
