China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a major state-owned engineering and construction firm in China, has been awarded a Sh3.22 billion contract to upgrade the seven-kilometre Old Mombasa Road linking the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD) to Syokimau, a project aimed at improving the road’s capacity, drainage, safety and reliability.
The contract firms CRBC’s grip on Kenyan infrastructure, adding to other landmark projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Nairobi Expressway.
Disclosures show that CRBC was expected to start construction works on September 1, 2026, and finish them on April 28, 2029.
The upgrade is aimed at turning Old Mombasa Road into a more reliable transport link between the ICD and surrounding areas, disclosures by Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) show.
“The works to be executed under the Contract comprise mainly of … pavement Construction … Drainage and Protection Works … Road Furniture … Identification and relocation of services [and] Maintenance of passage of traffic through the works,” reads part of the tender document.
Disclosures by Kura show that CRBC competitively won the tender, which will see the State-owned Chinese company construct the road for a period of 18 months before maintaining it for another 12 months.
The contractor will also install 259 double-arm LED streetlights mounted on 10-metre poles and 20 single-arm lights on eight-metre poles. The electrical works include substations, distribution boxes and power cables.
Other works include relocating utilities, removing existing obstructions, demolishing specified structures and maintaining traffic during construction. The bill of quantities provides for two kilometres of temporary gravel diversions to facilitate movement while the works proceed.
The contract adds to a string of road projects by CRBC along the corridor, including the 27.1-kilometre Nairobi Expressway, which runs from Mlolongo to Westlands via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and was built at an estimated cost of Sh86.8 billion.
CRBC was also tapped for the capacity enhancement, landscaping and beautification of the James Gichuru Road junction to the highway linking Nairobi to JKIA.
This section of Mombasa Road was destroyed during the construction of Nairobi Expressway, another road project that was done by CRBC.
CRBC delivered the SGR – Kenya’s biggest infrastructural project— whose total cost was $5.08 billion (Sh658.1 billion). The project was fully funded by loans from the China Export-Import Bank.
The Chinese firm constructed the Sh86.8 billion Nairobi Expressway, whose completion in 2022 has since eased gridlocks from the JKIA to Westlands, along a span of 27.1 kilometres.
CRBC delivered the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Bypasses in Nairobi between 2012 and 2022. The costliest of these was the Sh18 billion Southern Bypass, followed by the Sh9.3 billion Eastern Bypass.
The Northern Bypass, which links Ruaka (on Limuru Road) to Ruiru (on the Thika Superhighway), was built for Sh8.5 billion. CRBC is currently finalising the Sh46 billion Talanta Stadium, which will be the biggest such facility in Kenya. The project is funded via an infrastructure bond that was issued through a special purpose vehicle dubbed Linzi Finco.
Talanta, located on Jamhuri Grounds along Ngong Road, is slated to host the final of the 2027 African Cup of Nations. Kenya will jointly host the continental football showpiece with Uganda and Tanzania.
CRBC is also one of the contractors undertaking the Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit Highway under a public-private partnership arrangement, while its parent company, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), was tapped to upgrade JKIA.
CRBC’s grip on Kenya’s infrastructure has also spread to the agricultural sector, with the Chinese firm set to build the Sh38.8 billion Galana dam. The dam was initially to be developed under the Public Private Partnership, but the government has since dropped this model in favor of the engineering, procurement, construction, and financing (EPCF) framework.
