Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), is in Nairobi for a four-day tour of the country, during which he will inspect key AfDB projects.
He would inspect the Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway project, which is being co-financed by AfDB for $191 million, with the Kenyan government contributing $52 million and the Africa Growing Together Fund contributing $33 million.
The project entails converting the existing 84km two-way single bitumen road to a two-lane dual carriageway, which is expected to improve access to the northern corridor by reducing time by about 26% and cost by 35%.
“The road will reinforce the Kenyan government’s efforts to improve the quality of life of the Kenyan people. It will reduce travel time, expand markets beyond national boundaries and boost rural productivity in the project regions,” AfDB’s Director General for East Africa, Nnenna Nwabufo commented on the project.
The highway connects Nairobi to the country’s central, upper eastern, and northern regions, and it is part of Kenya’s section of the Trans-Africa Highway, which connects Cairo to Cape Town and “aims to promote trade, enterprise, and general movement across Africa, and thus regional economic and social integration.”
According to the initial plan, the project would be completed by the end of 2024, and it would also include the construction of complementary social facilities such as a hospital trauma center, bus parks, a modern market, and bodaboda sheds.
According to AfDB, the first phase of the highway, which spans 36 kilometers from Kenol to Sagana, is expected to be completed by the end of July this year.
Dr. Adesina will meet with senior government officials in Kenya, including President Uhuru Kenyatta and Amb Ukur Yatani, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning and the bank’s Governor for Kenya.
He will also meet with members of the diplomatic corps and representatives from the bank’s international development partner countries in Kenya “to discuss opportunities for continued collaboration.”