Transport minister Amos Kimunya. He declined to name financiers of the JKIA terminal. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
Transport minister Amos Kimunya said financing of the project had been sorted out as well as the capacity of selected firms to do the job.
Ongoing expansion projects at JKIA include construction of Unit Four, a $110 million project which is expected to be completed in August and handle 2.5 million passengers annually.
Building of Greenfield Terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is set to start after the Treasury secured $653 million (Sh56 billion).
Transport minister Amos Kimunya said financing of the project had been sorted out as well as the capacity of selected firms to do the job.
“We have ironed out all the outstanding issues that were of concern, including conducting due diligence on the firms tasked with carrying out the project,” said Mr Kimunya.
He declined to name financiers saying they would be announced later. It is understood that the money will come from international development banks which have capacity to give concessional loans over long periods.
“We settled on international lenders since we were interested in institutions that can extend loans with repayment periods extending to up to 20 years,” said Engineer Francis Ngigi, the KAA project manager for expansion, in November.
Mr Stephen Gichuki, the KAA managing director, had previously mentioned China Development Bank as a potential lender.
President Kibaki is expected to break the ground for construction of the terminal, whose tendering last year was the subject of a row between government officials, next Friday.
“We cannot dictate the President’s diary, but as of now we have reserved February 15 as the day when he will officiate at the groundbreaking ceremony,” said Mr Kimunya.
KAA officials said that logistics for the function were being finalised.
Two Chinese firms, Anhui Construction Engineering Group and state-owned China National Aero-Technology International Engineering Corporation will undertake the project in collaboration with Pascall + Watson Architects.
Pascall’s previous works include terminals at Heathrow, Abu Dhabi, and Birmingham airports. KAA has also engaged Washington DC’s Louis Berger Group as their supervising consultant.
Mr Kimunya had contested the awarding of tenders to the two Chinese firms protesting suspected corruption, leading to the temporary removal of Mr Gichuki.
The Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) ordered KAA to sign the contract with two firms after finding that the tendering was above board.
Uncertainty on the project’s financing also threatened to stall it, but in November KAA said it had shortlisted prospective international lenders promising to make a decision in a month’s time.
KAA will service part of the loan from a passenger service charge which will earn them close to Sh600 million per month.
Ongoing expansion projects at JKIA include construction of Unit Four, a $110 million project which is expected to be completed in August and handle 2.5 million passengers annually.
Units one, two, and three are also slated for renovation at a cost of $93 million.
The current expansion plans are being made to cater for a projected 10.9 million passengers expected to be using JKIA by 2015, with the number projected to rise by 55 per cent to 17 million in 2020.
Currently, the airport is estimated to handle about seven million passengers a year. Kenya Airways is banking on the new projects to accommodate higher passenger traffic from its ongoing expansion plan that will see the airline increase its fleet to 68 by 2015.
“The airport is currently operating way above its capacity and the new terminal will address growing demand for extra and quality space by airlines,” said Mr Kimunya, adding that the extra capacity will help further Kenya’s bid to position itself as the regional hub.
