Global Markets
Home›Global Markets›Emerging Markets›China’s CRBC wins $1.2 billion Kenya airport moderniza…
China’s CRBC wins $1.2 billion Kenya airport modernization contract
The deal comes after Kenya’s earlier attempt to modernize Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with India’s Adani Group collapsed, and it reflects a wider shift in African infrastructure toward Chinese contractors.
Two years after Kenya’s plan to modernize Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with India’s Adani Group fell apart, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has won a US$1.2 billion contract for the work, according to SCMP Economy.
The outlet said CRBC’s move follows a similar pattern in Kenya, where France’s Vinci lost a major highway deal and CRBC took over as developer alongside another Chinese firm.
Under the original 30-year concession, the national government would bear all the deal risk, a structure that raised public cost concerns, SCMP Economy reported.
The story also points to China’s growing infrastructure footprint in Africa, citing local media that CRBC has received US$9.3 billion in Kenyan infrastructure contracts, and quoting a Nairobi analyst who said China’s bundled financing, construction, and operations package makes it more competitive than Western firms.