Kenya Transporation Opportunities in Urban e-Mobility System

Kenya signed a $60 million dollar grant agreement with the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) on September 19, 2023. The program, dubbed the Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program, seeks to assist Kenya in addressing limited connectivity in urban areas, a critical constraint to inclusive economic growth. The grant will help improve urban transport in Nairobi where over one million people come in and out of the city daily, which poses a significant challenge to the city’s transport infrastructure. Apart from addressing the challenges the Matatu transport system (small privately owned buses) faces, establishing an efficient mass bus transport system is a very important component of solving this problem. The MCC grant will be the largest and most ambitious threshold agreement that MCC has signed in its 20-year history. 

The program will be implemented by the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) in four different segments, namely:

a)    Integrated Transport Planning Project - strengthen the ability of NAMATA to develop and implement a unified, long-term transport planning process for the Nairobi metropolitan area and to prioritize investments based on access, mobility, and connectivity. 
b)    First and Last Mile Connections Project - improve access to transportation options within a specified area in the eastern portion of Nairobi City County. 
c)    Detailed Land Use Project - modernize the land use planning framework to improve the quality of investments in land in the Nairobi metropolitan area.
d)    Blended Finance for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project - catalyze private financing to support the acquisition of electric (or other low emission) buses to operate one or more lines of the bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

This program will present opportunities for U.S. companies with experience in urban mobility planning as well as provision of electric or low-emission buses and associated components.

For more information, contact Commercial Specialist at: Mary.Masyuko@trade.gov