The irony of JKIA unveiling airport makeover plan without funding clarity

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is pressing on with an ambitious multi-billion dollar plan to transform Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) into a world-class aviation hub.

This comes even as questions remain over how the government will finance the costly project amid severe fiscal constraints, with the agency declining to disclose its funding strategy.

The master plan, dated February 26, and prepared by international consultancy SIDARA, outlines a sweeping transformation of Nairobi’s main airport that would see it compete with regional heavyweights in Dubai, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Qatar. However, the 70-page presentation document contains no funding plan or cost estimates, leaving a critical gap in what would be one of Kenya’s largest infrastructure projects.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Davies Chirchir did not respond to queries from The Standard regarding the financing framework for the expansion. KAA officials in their official release also remained mum on whether the project would be funded through public-private partnerships, bilateral lenders, or the government’s stretched balance sheet.

The silence on funding comes as the embattled Ruto administration grapples with limited fiscal headroom, with debt servicing consuming nearly half of ordinary revenue. Previous attempts to attract private capital for JKIA have foundered, most notably one being the collapse of controversial deal with India’s Adani Group following political backlash.

An earlier government briefing document seen by The Standard revealed that after the Adani deal collapsed, authorities explored establishing a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to ring-fence project financing. 

That document outlined an urgent need for over Sh206 billion ($1.6 billion) to expand and modernise the overcrowded facility, with the government subsequently eyeing bilateral development finance institutions (DFIs) to provide strategic funding.

The new master plan, however, makes no mention of these financing mechanisms, focusing instead on technical specifications and ambitious timelines. If realised, the transformed JKIA would bear little resemblance to the current facility, which handled 8.8 million passengers in 2025 against a declared capacity of eight million, leaving terminals 1A and 1D severely congested. The centrepiece is a new terminal building with capacity for 10 million passengers annually at stage one, expanding to 15 million at the ultimate phase. 

Spanning 217,000 square meters, the terminus will feature 28 check-in desks, 56 baggage drop points with 12 self-service kiosks. It will also have 16 security screening machines, 22 passport control booths with seven e-gates, and 36 immigration counters supported by 14 e-gates. Two baggage claim areas will serve international passengers with 10 carousels while domestic travellers will have four.

The airfield will gain a second runway measuring 4,500 meters by 60 meters, running parallel to the existing strip. 

New parallel and cross taxiways will be added, along with aprons providing 40 narrow-body stands and nine wide-body stands for the new passenger terminal building.

Landside infrastructure includes widening the primary access road with an additional lane in each direction, 870 short-term and 600 long-term parking spaces, and upgraded curbside roads with dedicated drop-off and pick-up lanes. Signalised intersections will be installed at key junctions.

Support facilities will be dramatically expanded, including new GSE maintenance, aircraft cleaning facilities, an airport maintenance complex, administrative offices, a catering facility upgrade, aircraft maintenance and repair facilities, airside bus facilities, and an expanded ARFF station.

Beyond the immediate airport, the plan envisions an “Airport City” and Special Economic Zone spanning hundreds of hectares. To the north, 131 hectares of industrial plots arranged in a grid layout with designated truck parking. To the south, 35 hectares of office development. A linear park spanning 16 hectares would be created through realigned drainage channels.

Analysts note that Kenya’s ambitious vision to rival UAE’s Dubai International and Al Maktoum airports, Ethiopia’s new mega-hub outside Addis Ababa, Rwanda’s Bugesera International Airport, and Qatar’s Hamad International will require financial discipline that has eluded previous infrastructure projects.