The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has invited consulting firms to express interest in undertaking a feasibility study and transaction advisory services for the proposed redevelopment of the Nairobi-Mombasa Road under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework.
The consultancy will assess the viability of the proposed partnership and advise the government on its structure before a private partner is selected to participate in the project.
KeNHA, a State corporation under the Ministry of Roads and Transport established under the Kenya Roads Act, 2007, said eligible consulting firms must demonstrate that they possess the required qualifications and relevant experience to undertake the assignment.
The government intends to use financing from the World Bank under the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project to fund the consultancy services.
The assignment will be undertaken in two phases over a period of 15 months.
The first phase, covering feasibility studies, will run for six months, while the second phase, involving transaction advisory services, will take nine months.
The consultancy is expected to require 156 person-months of key professional personnel, comprising 88 person-months for the feasibility study and 68 person-months for the transaction advisory phase.
“The selected consultant or consortium will be expected to demonstrate adequate technical and managerial capacity to undertake the assignment,” KeNHA said.
This will include providing details of relevant personnel, equipment, software and other resources that will be deployed in carrying out the consultancy.
KeNHA said interested firms should provide only sufficient information to enable the Authority to assess their capabilities and experience in the relevant field.
The Authority said legal documents such as certificates of incorporation, powers of attorney and translations of standard brochures should not be submitted at the expression-of-interest stage.
The proposed consultancy comes amid government plans to transform the Nairobi-Mombasa transport corridor, which serves as a critical artery for the movement of people and goods between the capital, the Coast and the wider East African region.
According to government plans, KeNHA intends to expand the existing 461-kilometre A8 highway into a minimum four-lane dual carriageway.
The feasibility study is expected to examine the infrastructure and transport requirements of the road and determine how the proposed expansion could be structured under a PPP arrangement.
The transaction advisory phase will subsequently guide on structuring the partnership and the process of bringing in a private sector investor.
The project is being linked to the wider Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project, a regional infrastructure initiative supported by the World Bank.
The project is focused on improving connectivity along the Isiolo-Mandera corridor, including upgrading sections of the 764-kilometre road corridor, installing fibre-optic infrastructure and supporting social amenities such as schools and water facilities.
