NSSF Kenya Partners with Chinese Company to Bid for Road Project

Savings Digest - Issue 3

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The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) have submitted a joint proposal to the government for the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit Road.

On Tuesday, May 27, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) announced that CRBC was in a consortium with NSSF for the road project estimated to cost over Ksh90 billion (about UGX2.7 trillion).

Should the two be awarded the company, NSSF is expected to use pension funds to finance the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project.

“The initiative is a brownfield project that will involve the upgrade, dualling and expansion of the Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road (175km) and rehabilitation of the 58km A8 South between Rironi and Naivasha via Maai Mahiu, to pave the way for tolling under a DBFOMT model,” read the disclosure in part.

“The toll rates shall be determined in line with the National Tolling Policy (when approved). Escalation of toll rates shall be done as per the Policy,” it further said.

NSSF and CRBC are facing competition from the Shandong Hi Speed Road & Bridge International Engineering Co Ltd, which also sent a proposal to the government.

This is not the first project that the China Road and Bridge Corporation will be undertaking in Kenya. The Chinese company is responsible for the ongoing Talanta Stadium and previously constructed the Nairobi Expressway and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The move by NSSF to bid for the project is set to draw mixed reactions, given the recent remarks by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, who opposed such actions.

“Civil servants’ money should not be used in such a manner because the government has the responsibility of creating a conducive environment for economic growth so that it can generate more revenue,” remarked the MP.

“If infrastructure development were such a lucrative sector, all the private sectors would have invested there because of the high returns,” he added.