Sh300 Billion Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway will Not be a Burden to Kenyans, US Gov’t Says

The United States says Kenya will reap immense benefits from the proposed Nairobi-Mombasa expressway project.

In a statement on Friday, the US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter rubbished reports that the Sh300 billion project would burden Kenya with unsustainable debt.

McCarter indicated that the US Government remains fully committed to fulfilling President Trump’s shared pledge with Kenya to make the state-of-the-art highway a reality.

“This project by a world-class U.S. company will provide the best engineered solutions for Kenya’s infrastructure needs at a lower price than competitors and for far better value.”

“Furthermore, doing business with a U.S. company helps combat corruption through the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” McCarter said.

There have been questions over whether Ke,anya could afford the expressway project given that the country’s total public debt recently crossed the Sh6 trillion mark.

The debt as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently stands at 63 percent and is expected to reach the 70 percent mark in the near future.

On Friday, the US insisted that the expressway, which is set to be constructed by American engineering company, Bechtel is an investment and will not saddle Kenya with additional debt.