Kenya has received a major boost in its effort to modernise one of East Africa’s busiest transport corridors after the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) approved a USD 3.15 million (Ksh407 million) grant to prepare a road enhancement project between Mau Summit and Malaba. The decision was made during the MCDF Governing Committee meeting held in Beijing on November 25, 2025.

The grant will support a comprehensive feasibility study for the proposed public-private partnership (PPP) project, which will upgrade the 243-kilometer stretch linking Mau Summit in Nakuru County to the Malaba border with Uganda—a key gateway for regional trade across Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern DRC, and northern Tanzania.

The study will be implemented by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), marking what could become AIIB’s first standalone investment in Kenya and its first PPP structuring in Africa.

The Mau Summit–Malaba section forms part of the Northern Corridor, the busiest and most important trade route in East and Central Africa. It connects the Port of Mombasa to landlocked economies, carrying an estimated 30 million tonnes of cargo annually, according to the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA).

Improving this stretch is expected to significantly reduce transport costs, ease congestion, and cut travel time for the thousands of trucks that use the corridor daily.

The MCDF-funded feasibility study will examine the road’s technical and engineering viability, assess climate change resilience, and evaluate environmental and social safeguards. It will also determine the affordability of potential tolling structures.

Also watch: Nyoro opposes toll charges on Rironi–Mau summit road.

According to MCDF, the study is designed to “foster a transparent, bankable PPP aligned with International Financial Institution standards” and help prepare critical documents such as the PPP structure, contracts, and tendering frameworks. The objective is to ensure the project can attract substantial private investment while upholding international environmental and social responsibility standards.

The new feasibility study will expand on a pre-feasibility assessment currently underway with financing from AIIB. It follows a formal request by the Government of Kenya seeking additional support to accelerate preparations for the upgrade, which is considered essential for easing pressure on the corridor and accommodating growing demands on regional transport.

If implemented, the upgraded road is expected to transform mobility and cross-border trade across the region. Improvements will likely include dual carriage expansions, safer highway designs, and measures to reduce accidents, which remain high along the corridor.

According to KeNHA data, parts of the corridor are among the most accident-prone due to heavy traffic, narrow lanes, and deteriorating surfaces.

The project is also expected to reduce truck idling and long queues at bottlenecks, lower carbon emissions by easing congestion, cut logistical costs for importers and exporters and improve reliability of the Trans-African Highway Network.

If the Mau Summit–Malaba upgrade proceeds to construction, it would join the recently completed Nairobi Expressway as another flagship PPP in Kenya’s transport sector.