Projects under the five-year MTP III are clustered under four main pillars, hence the term Big 4. These are Manufacturing, Food Security and Nutrition, Universal Health Coverage – Affordable Healthcare for All – and Affordable Housing for both low and middle income earners.
Manufacturing
Ports, Roads and Rails
The LAPSSET Corridor Programme
East Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project, brings together Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. It has seven key initiatives with a total cost of over US $13bn.
Arguably Kenya’s most ambitious venture, the Ksh2 trillion Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPPSET) Corridor project will boost economic activities and double the country’s GDP.
Key components include Lamu Port, Lamu-Ethiopia-South Sudan highway, Lamu-Juba-Addis Ababa railway, an oil refinery and a 2,240km pipeline linking oil fields in South Sudan to the refinery at Lamu Port.
Kenya Standard Gauge Railway
The 969 km standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Malaba is among the largest and most ambitious transport infrastructure projects in Africa.
Phase I of the project, which is 472km from Mombasa to Nairobi, is complete as is Phase 2A from Nairobi to Naivasha (120km). The section to Kisumu is still pending.
Mombasa Port Expansion
It includes Phase II of the second container terminal at the Mombasa Port.
Nairobi Expressway
Decongestion of the Northern Corridor, running through the centre of Nairobi, is critical to the city‘s future. Construction is underway on the 27km highway to ease costly traffic congestion in Nairobi. China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is the contractor and the Expressway runs from Mlolongo to JKIA and through the city centre, to James Gichuru road junction in Westlands. CRBC is building the road on a public-private partnership (PPP) and a concession period of 30 years that includes three years of construction.
Standard Gauge Railway
This iconic multi-modal urban development will be located inside the 200-acre prime property that currently serves as the Nairobi Railway Station as part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Plan (NIUPLAN) for expanding the city’s Central Business District.
The Kenya Railways (KR) has partnered with the Nairobi City County Government (NCCG) and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, in the project.
This exciting initiative will be implemented in three phases. The first stage will see the construction of meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) facilities along Bunyala Road in Nairobi.
Phase two will include construction of an economic zone comprising hi-tech industries and small and medium enterprises.
The final phase is the building of an affordable housing complex that will include a school, park, and affordable housing units. The Railway City will be integrated to the Nairobi Expressway, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and the Nairobi Commuter Rail Service.
A special purpose vehicle to spearhead the project called Railway City Development Authority (RCDA) has been created to spearhead the initiative, including identifying anchor projects and investors.
Kisumu Port Rehabilitation
As per the National Economic Survey 2020, the refurbished Port of Kisumu processed 62 percent more cargo in 2019, largely due to increased trade with neighbouring East African Community countries and better efficiency and a surge in trade — new statistics show.
This has established Kisumu port as the hub for inland EA trade in the Great Lakes Region.
Not only has the volume of cargo handled at the revamped port increased, but so has the number of vessels visiting the port, up by 116 percent in 2019.
Energy
Kipevu Oil Terminal
The facility, whose construction is underway in Mombasa, will be ready by August next year — enabling bigger volumes of fuel products to move in and out of Kenya.
On completion, the New Kipevu Oil Terminal will have four berths capable of handling the importation and exportation of crude oil, heavy fuel oil, aviation fuel, petrol, and diesel.
Technology
Konza Technopolis
Konza Technology City is a smart city project 64km south of the capital Nairobi, on 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, in Machakos County.
Part of Kenya’s Vision 2030 blueprint, it is projected to create about 17,000 direct high-value jobs, and 68,000 indirect jobs, once completed.
The project is modelled on the US Silicon Valley, hence the moniker “African Silicon Savanna”.
It targets business process outsourcing, software development, data centres, disaster recovery centres, call centres, light manufacturing industries, and research institutions. The project’s cost is US$ 14.5 billion.
Designed as a world-class technology hub, Konza is projected to host a vibrant mix of businesses, workers, residents, and urban amenities.
The plan for Konza includes urban amenities, friendly and tech-ready neighborhoods, access to parks and recreation, transit-oriented development and varied retail and restaurants options.
It will host data centers, technology and life science facilities, commercial office space, hotels, convention centers, educational institutions, and community support services.
Food Security and Nutrition
Galana/Kulalu Project
Hosted by two counties, Kilifi and Tana River, the project seeks to bring down the price of Kenya’s staple food (maize) and boost local production of sugar, fruits, beef, dairy products, fish, poultry and honey.
This involves development of physical infrastructure for viable and economic utilisation of the natural resources available within, or accessible to the area making up the Galana and Kulalu Ranches, including but not limited to water storage, water conveyance and distribution, irrigation, livestock production, aquaculture, road network, land development, eco-tourism, among others.
The project covers 1.75 million acres of public land on the lower River Athi/Galana/Sabaki basin for investments in irrigation, livestock and fisheries enterprises with related social infrastructure such as production storage, processing and marketing equipment. There is a land-use plan to guide sustainable utilisation of natural resources. The main land uses are urban and agriculture. Despite some “teething problems” the project remains on course.
Development of Lake Turkana Fishery and Post- Harvest Operations
The project will increase aquaculture productivity and incomes of aquaculture farmers and other stakeholders.
It will be implemented in schools, mariculture development along the Kenyan coastline, cage culture systems in fish farms and water bodies, and model pilot Recirculation Aquaculture System (RAS).
The project will also entail construction and development of an International Nile Perch Research Centre at Kabonyo in Kisumu for research on reproduction, nutrition and genetic variation factors of Nile perch for future restocking of Lake Victoria.
Lower Turkwel Irrigation Project
It was conceived as a multi-purpose initiative to develop dams to store water for hydropower generation, develop irrigation infrastructure for 30,000Ha for sugarcane production and for food production in the downstream areas, consumption for both households and livestock, environmental conservation, fisheries and tourist development.
To date, a dam has been developed with a capacity of 1.6 billion m3 of water and is currently being used by KenGen to produce 106MW of electricity that is fed into the national grid.
Integrated Fish Resources Development Project
Coast Development Authority (CDA) aims to improve the livelihoods of the local fishermen and the community on the coastline of Kenya through the Integrated Fish Resources Development Project.
This project intends to implement various components in an integrated manner, including rehabilitation of fish habitat, fish farming and breeding, fish harvesting, fish processing and value addition, marketing and market linkages and community support.
Koin-Soru Dam
Feasibility study is ready and the designs finalised. The process of public participation is complete but negotiations on compensation for people to be displaced by the dam are ongoing.
It will end perennial flooding caused by River Nyando downstream and provide water for domestic use and irrigation, as well as 2MW of electricity. It will be located 5km upstream of River Nyando from Muhoroni town on 2,500 acres of land.
Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Programme
As a key contributor to the Big 4 Agenda and a Vision 2030 flagship project, Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Programme will ensure access to safe drinking water, healthy meal preparation, proper sanitation, and health and industrialisation for the residents of Makueni, Kitui, and parts of Machakos.
The programme comprises a multi-purpose dam for water supply, hydropower generation and irrigation development. In Phase 1, the programme will increase water security by providing 681 million cubic metres (MCM) of water storage for human consumption, power generation and upstream and downstream irrigation and conservation.
The target population will benefit from an abundant supply of potable water, which will lead to improved health and spur economic development throughout the area and in Konza City.
Construction is underway on the Ksh82 billion dam on the border of Kitui and Makueni. Jointly funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the project will be implemented in four phases at a cost of Ksh81.89 billion.
Universal Health Coverage — Affordable Healthcare for All
Piloting of UHC began in 2018 in four counties, with a programme that eased access to health services for millions of people.
Since then, over 200 community health units were created, with 7,700 community health volunteers and over 700 health workers recruited.
The first year of the pilot phase saw over 1.6 million more hospital visits recorded.
The abolition of all fees at local and secondary level [county referral] health facilities widely expanded access to health services in the four pilot counties that were selected because of a high prevalence of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, high population density, high maternal mortality, and high incidence of road traffic injuries.
The Government is now working to accelerate staff recruitment, develop better links between local and higher-level health facilities, improve funding delivery timings, and supply of medical commodities as well as coordination and management.
The focus is also on reforming the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), establish a mandatory universal health coverage scheme, adopt an essential package of health services, and provide health coverage for 1 million low-income households to be biometrically registered.
Investments during the first phase of the UHC have helped in the COVID-19 response, and more health personnel have been hired to help curb the spread of the epidemic, which has severely strained health systems across the region, and disrupted the provision of essential health services.
Affordable Housing
The State Department for Housing and Urban Development lists several projects on its website under the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP).
Park Road is the first development promoted by Government under the Affordable Housing Programme. This integrated human settlement project is located in Ngara area of the City of Nairobi, and consists of 1,370 housing units.
Mavoko Sustainable Housing Programme will see the provision of 463 units and includes various social amenities.
Further project details are available from the National Housing Corporation, and units have been available for selection since mid-2020.
Kibera Soweto East Zone B will see redevelopment with the construction of residential units of one, two and three bedrooms in highrise blocks of 12 floors. The Government through the Slum Upgrading Department is in the process of planning for the redevelopment of Kibera Soweto East Zone ‘B’.
The department has targeted to develop 3,000 housing units and other social amenities in the 3.5 ha piece of land demarcated as Zone ‘B’.
At Stoni Athi View, off the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, the National Housing Corporation (NHC) has built economy-block rental units. The project is located a kilometre from the Kenya Meat Commission factory, 20km from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), 3km from the Export Processing Zone (EPZ), and multiple manufacturing facilities.
In the same site, NHC has built spacious four-bedroom, semi-detached maisonettes in an excellently planned gated community with a safe boundary wall, well landscaped greenery and open play courts for children and a panoramic view of Stoni Athi Dam and River Stoni Athi.
In Nairobi, the Starehe Affordable Housing Project is approximately 2.5km from the Nairobi CBD, in the eastern zone of the county. It is envisioned as a mixed-use development with social, common and housing amenities, and a development potential of 3,000 units of various types.
Another initiative is the Pangani Affordable Housing Project initiated by the Nairobi City County Government in partnership with Tecnofin Kenya Limited to renew and re- create Pangani Estate.
It is the premiere PPP (Public Private Partnership) Venture under the Affordable Housing Pillar of the Big 4 Agenda, dubbed Boma Yangu.
Construction is currently ongoing. When complete, the project will have 1,562 units with mixed elements of amenities in the commercial space to cater to residents.
Kitui County Affordable Housing Project, Kalawa Road, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Kitui County Government and Tecnofin Kenya Ltd, a local real estate company.
It is located along Kalawa Road, opposite WARMA offices, right within Kitui town.
The project is in line with President Kenyatta’s Big 4 agenda; Pillar 4 on Affordable Housing.
Finally, in Kitui County, is the Kalawa Housing Programme that will provide comfortable, modern housing with an unobstructed view of Nzambani Rock, flexible payment terms, proximity to Kitui town and other social amenities such as schools and hospitals.
The project has a planned total of 509 units.