The government is now seking new investors for the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway expansion despite initial plans by U.S. infrastructure company Everstrong Capital to upgrade the road.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Director General of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Directorate Kefa Seda on Tuesday, September 15, said the highway is among 13 key projects Kenya is presenting to investors for funding during the 2026/2027 financial year.

Seda presented the projects during the Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference (GICC) 2026 in Seoul, South Korea, where governments and financial institutions discussed major investment opportunities.

“Our country is taking a substantive pipeline of investment opportunities to the market across transport, energy and other strategic sectors, with 13 priority projects identified for active market engagement in FY2026/2027,” Seda said.

📌 What You Need to Know

During the conference, the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway was listed alongside the Mau Summit-Malaba Road , which the government seeks to finance through private investors.

This comes weeks after the government changed its approach to the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, opting to expand it instead of proceeding with plans for a completely new expressway.

In March this year, the government revealed its plan to upgrade the 461-kilometre highway from two lanes to four lanes and convert it into an access-controlled tolled road.

The revised approach followed the government’s decision to abandon plans for a new Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway proposed by U.S. infrastructure firm Everstrong Capital.

Everstrong initially promoted the Usahihi Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway as a privately financed project, proposing a four-to-six-lane expressway funded through PPP and privately operated for the next 30 years.

In his speech, Seda said Kenya was seeking a financing system that is capable of mobilising long-term capital while widening participation in infrastructure development.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke