Global airport operator expressed interest Kenya's bid, but hasn't gotten response since June

CAAP says that it presented its bid to the then Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen in June and the government has remained mum on the matter.

“So far, we haven’t had any response from Kenya’s government to that letter of presentation,” CAAP told Bloomberg.

The Buenos Aires-based company is among the private investors who have shown interest in anchoring operations in the Kenyan airfields.

So far Kenya has publicly warmed up to controversial investor Adani Group who might uptake the proposed Ksh.260 billion expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and manage operations for 30 years.

Transport CS Davis Chirchir, who has been on the hot seat for the past month, has reiterated that the government has not approved Adani's bid.

Amid public uproar, he acknowledged the government’s failure to fully disclose details of the deal but emphasized that no binding contract exists.

“Today and over the past few weeks we have attempted to communicate. There was a bit of lapse of communication in the way we have carried the privately initiated investment by Adani in this airport," Chirchir said during a press briefing at JKIA following a meeting that resolved a strike by aviation workers.

Adani Airports Holding Limited submitted a privately initiated proposal to KAA in March 2024, proposing to develop and expand JKIA through the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model of Public Private Partnership.

Adani's plan also proposed to develop, operate and maintain the city side, meaning Adani proposes to take over nearly all functions currently performed by the Kenya Airports Authority.

In April 2024, the KAA upon review of the Adani proposal found it untenable, saying, “The feasibility study report submitted by Adani has not fully satisfied criteria of project feasibility and affordability.”

At the time, KAA found that Adani had proposed to first refurbish existing facilities at the JKIA before moving to build a new terminal. KAA however wanted a new terminal built first, to be followed by refurbishments.

Cabinet approved the national aviation policy and the JKIA medium-term investment plan on June 11, 2024.

A row erupted into a full-blown aviation crisis on September 12 when KAA workers went on strike over what is turning out to be a deal of the mighty in government with the Adani Enterprises.