Kenya Secures $1.2B Airport Financing Through TDB and AFC for Nairobi Expansion
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Kenya has contracted Africa's Trade and Development Bank and Africa Finance Corporation to arrange financing for a $1.2 billion expansion of its main airport in Nairobi, the transport minister announced. The East African nation is aiming to nearly triple Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's annual passenger handling capacity to 22 million, but had to pause the project last year after it cancelled a deal with India's Adani group in 2024 following the indictment of its founder in the United States.
"The project is intended to be funded through leveraging of airport-based revenue streams. The arrangers will crowd in Development Financial Institutions and commercial banks," Transport Minister Davis Chirchir said in a statement late on Thursday. The project is expected to cost a maximum of 154.2 billion shillings ($1.19 billion), he said, and construction will take three years to complete.
He said an international, competitive bidding process for implementing the project had already taken place. Local and international media have reported that China Communication Construction Company already won the contract, though the minister did not address the reports directly in his official statement.
The project involves rehabilitating existing airport facilities, including runways and aprons, and building a new passenger terminal to boost annual passenger handling capacity to 22 million, from the current 7.5 million. This massive expansion will transform JKIA into one of Africa's largest aviation hubs and significantly improve Kenya's capacity to handle growing regional and international air traffic.
Kenya is keen to maintain its position as a travel hub in the region, even as Ethiopia and Rwanda invest billions in new airports to entice airlines and travellers. The country is also seeking new ways to finance infrastructure after a debt surge squeezed its finances, making the TDB and AFC arrangement critical for moving the project forward without adding to Kenya's sovereign debt burden.
