Kenya gets Ksh.8.7 billion to buy electric buses for Nairobi BRT system

Kenya has signed a Ksh.8.7 billion ($60 million) agreement with the Unites States’ Millennium Change Corporation (MCC) to finance the acquisition of electric buses for Line 2 of Nairobi’s Bus Rapid Transit system.

President William Ruto met MCC CEO Alice Albright in New York on Tuesday for the signing of the deal.

He said the Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program will help Kenya deal with traffic congestion within the Nairobi Metropolitan Area.

“Mobility in Nairobi is very important to us. The city has 5 million people during the day and 4 million at night, so this means there are 1 million people who come every day, posing a very significant challenge to the infrastructure. The bus transport system is a very important component,” Ruto said.

“We are also working on a rail system around Nairobi and we have built 28 stations out of a possible 38.”

MCC is a US government body created by Congress in 2004. The corporation on its website says it partners with “the world’s poorest countries that are committed to just and democratic governance, economic freedom and investing in their populations.”

The Washington DC-based body’s directors’ board in December 2019 selected Kenya as eligible to develop a second threshold program.

According to MCC, Tuesday’s signing was after several years of collaboration on the design of projects.

The threshold program seeks to assist Kenya in addressing limited connectivity in urban areas, a critical constraint to inclusive economic growth.

“Analysis, conducted jointly by MCC and the Government of Kenya, revealed that Kenya’s urban areas—particularly in the capital city, Nairobi—did not enjoy the significant productivity gains frequently associated with urbanization,” MCC said in a statement seen by Citizen Digital.

“Limited planning and a lack of prioritization in investments related to land use and transportation undermine connectivity and lead to fragmentation, limiting productivity among manufacturing firms in Nairobi and between workers and economic opportunities.”

The program comprises four projects; the Integrated Transport Planning Project, the First and Last Mile Connections Project, the Detailed Land Use Project, and the Blended Finance for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project.

In late July, Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the government was set to resume construction of the stalled BRT project in two months.

Murkomen said his ministry was in talks with the Treasury to acquire funds for the completion of the project by December next year.

“We are working with the National Treasury to ensure prompt settlement of pending bills owed to the contractor to enable him to resume work within the next two months with a target of December 2024 as the completion date,” he said on July 26 after inspecting the Line 2 BRT corridor at Kasarani terminal in Nairobi.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) had in 2022 projected to launch five BRT corridors but the project stalled due to delay in disbursements.

NAMATA Director General Francis Gitau, in a past interview, said the Treasury failed to release the Ksh.3 billion needed to complete the Ksh.5.6 billion project which was scheduled to begin operations in June 2022.