The Kenyan government has awarded the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) the Ksh375.4 billion ($2.9 billion) contract for the upgrade and expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The awarding of the contract comes nearly two years after the collapse of an earlier modernization attempt involving India’s Adani Group.
CCCC has a substantial presence in Kenya, having participated in several flagship projects, including the 60,000-seat stadium, Bomas International Convention Centre, Rironi-Mau Summit road expansion, and the extension of the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba.
According to Bloomberg, the upgrading of JKIA will be financed by the recently established National Infrastructure Fund (NIF).
The project is anchored on a 20-year master plan extending to 2045 and is aimed at significantly expanding the capacity of JKIA beyond its current handling capacity of approximately 8.8 million passengers annually.
Under the master plan, the airport’s transformation will be implemented in two phases, with a focus on increasing passenger capacity, modernising infrastructure and operations, and enhancing overall service delivery to meet growing demand for air travel.
In the first phase, CCC will focus on upgrading existing infrastructure, including taxiways, passenger processing areas, access roads, and airport digital systems, while the second phase will involve the construction of a new 4,500-metre parallel runway and a 230,000-square-metre passenger terminal.
Notably, this comes months after President William Ruto announced that the government would use Ksh20 billion from the proceeds of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) sale as seed funding for the expansion of JKIA.
“I am pleased to announce that the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will be the first major project financed through this new model under the National Infrastructure Fund,” President Ruto said.
