Road to riches: Nairobi Expressway mints Sh21.7m daily from motorists

The Nairobi Expressway, Kenya's flagship elevated toll road, handed its Chinese operator roughly Sh3.9 billion (RMB 3,936 million) in operating revenue over the six months ending June 30, 2026.

This is according to interim financial filings by its parent company, reviewed by Sunday Standard.

The figures highlight the immense revenue potential of urban infrastructure projects, but also the heavy financial engineering required to sustain them over multi-decade concession periods.

The 27-kilometre expressway, which runs from Mlolongo through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the James Gichuru junction in Westlands, is operated by Moja Expressway, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

The road commenced operations on July 31, 2022, and was built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement where a private firm finances, constructs, and operates a public asset for a fixed period to recoup its investment via user fees, before eventually transferring ownership back to the government.

For motorists, the expressway represents a dramatic shift in commuting.

What was once a two-hour crawl from the airport to the city centre is now a 20-minute drive. However, this convenience requires strict adherence to the rules of the road.

The expressway is a fully closed system with an enforced speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour. Dropping off passengers, parking, reversing, making U-turns, and littering are all strictly prohibited, and the emergency lane is reserved strictly for emergencies.

Two-wheeled and three-wheeled motor vehicles, including boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) and tuk-tuks (three-wheelers), are categorically banned from the toll road due to safety concerns regarding speed differentials.

Users access the expressway through two primary payment mechanisms, which The Sunday Standard can explain in detail.

The first is the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, which requires motorists to install an On-Board Unit (OBU), a small transponder device mounted on the windshield.

This device connects to a pre-funded account and automatically deducts the toll fee via dedicated lanes, allowing drivers to pass without stopping.

ETC users enjoy a discounted rate. The second method is the Manual Toll Collection (MTC) system, which includes traditional payment options such as pre-loaded MTC cards, physical cash, or mobile money platforms like M-Pesa, which was integrated in January 2023 to ease cash handling.

The cost of using the expressway is determined by vehicle classification and distance travelled, with rates officially gazetted by the Kenyan government and adjusted periodically based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the measure of inflation, and foreign exchange fluctuations.

The base rate applies to Class 3 vehicles, which covers standard saloon cars, SUVs, and pick-ups with two axles. A full Class 3 journey from Mlolongo to Nairobi Westlands costs Sh500 for manual payers, but only Sh490 for ETC users, incentivising the high-tech payment method. Shorter trips, such as Syokimau to the SGR station, cost Sh170.

Heavier vehicles pay exponential multiples of this base rate. Class 4 vehicles, defined as light vehicles with two axles and a high bonnet —primarily the minibus matatus that dominate Nairobi's public transport - are charged 1.5 times the base rate, translating to Sh750 for the full route.

Class 5 heavy vehicles with fewer than four axles, such as rigid trucks and small buses, are charged four times the base rate, costing Sh2,000 for a full journey. Class 6 heavy vehicles with four or more axles, including large articulated trucks, are charged five times the base rate, or Sh2,500.

Despite the robust cash flow from these tolls, the broader financial picture for CCCC is complex. The interim report reveals that across its entire global portfolio of 23 concession projects, including roads in China, Cambodia, and Jamaica, the group has invested a staggering Sh4.4 trillion.

However, the six-month report explicitly states: "The operating revenue and net loss for the reporting period were RMB3,936 million and RMB970 million, respectively," meaning the portfolio collectively ran at a net loss of Sh970 million during the period, with a further Sh93.5 billion in uncompleted investments.

The Nairobi Expressway, with its Sh90.1 billion accumulated investment, sits in a middling position within this portfolio.

At the current rate of Sh3.9 billion per six months, equating to Sh7.8 billion annually, it would take CCCC more than 11 and a half years to recoup its initial Sh90.1 billion construction outlay.

It significantly outperformed the Phnom Penh-Port of Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia, which earned Sh3.4 billion, and the Pingle-Zhaoping Expressway in China, which earned just Sh210 million.

However, it was overshadowed by more mature assets like the South-North Highway in Jamaica, which earned Sh4.7 billion, and the New Songming-Kunming Expressway cluster in China, which generated Sh14.8 billion.

For CCCC, the strategic value of the Nairobi Expressway extends far beyond toll booth receipts. The successful construction and operation of the road provided the Chinese firm with the credibility and leverage to secure a massive Sh375 billion contract to upgrade Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Yet, this model carries inherent risks that we can clarify. Under the PPP framework, CCCC bears the "demand risk", meaning if traffic volumes or toll collections fall below projections, the company absorbs the losses.

Conversely, the Kenyan government is exposed to a reported Sh103 billion termination fee should the concession collapse prematurely, effectively shielding the operator from early political risk while binding the State to long-term contractual obligations.

The CCCC report contextualises this heavy capital burden by noting that the industry faces downward pressure as the domestic construction sector contracts, and that the company is relying on its overseas business to "effectively offset the operational pressures arising from the downturn in the domestic market".

As the Nairobi Expressway enters its fifth year of operation, its financial returns will depend entirely on sustained traffic growth and the government's ability to manage urban congestion.

For the Kenyan motorist, the speed of the expressway remains a symbol of modernisation; for CCCC, it is a slow-burning financial asset requiring immense patience, as the company waits for the final years of its 27-year concession period to realise its heaviest returns.

The smooth asphalt of modern infrastructure, as the data suggests, is often built on decades of heavy financial waiting.

Sunday Standard could not immediately reach CCCC or its local subsidiary Moja Expressway by press time for this article.