Kenya and Tanzania joins hands to construct $750m road connecting Malindi and Bagamoyo
The road estimated to be cost around US $750m will be one of the largest projects that the two countries have jointly undertaken.
The two neighbour countries are planning to construct a 412 km road that will connect Malindi and Bagamoyo in a move meant to ease movement of people and goods between the two countries’ coastlines.
Tanzania has already hit the ground running and is currently concluding some of the critical studies while Kenya has started the process of sourcing contractors who will undertake the feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments.
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It is not clear though as to when the project will officially commence since Kenya has lagged behind in undertaking requisite studies that will inform how the project will be executed, but it is expected the project will kick off late this year.
“We expect that the project will start later this year or early next year,” said Director General of East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office at AfDB Gabriel Negatu
“Tanzania has been moving faster that Kenya in preparing for the start of the project,” he added.
The 412km Malindi-Bagamoyo highway begins in Malindi and moves through Mombasa, Lunga Lunga on the Kenyan side before crossing into Tanga, Tanzania, through Pangani and Saadani to Bagamoyo.
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Tanzania has outpaced Kenya in the preliminary planning, which could delay the commencement of the project, according to African Development Bank (AfDB).
The final studies are also expected to inform the project cost, which has been estimated to be around US $750m; making it one of the largest projects that the two countries have jointly undertaken.
For a while now, the project has been in the pipeline and was expected to begin early last year and be commissioned within 36 months.
AfDB is expected to cater for about 70% of the project’s total cost while Kenya and Tanzania will foot the balance; with each country expected to pay for construction works on its side of the border.
Late last year, the bank announced it had already set aside Sh30 billion ($300m) for the Kenya-Tanzania highway.
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