NAIROBI — Kenya has awarded a $2.9 billion contract to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to expand and modernise Nairobi’s main international airport, officials and reports said Thursday, in a major infrastructure shift following the collapse of a previous deal with India’s Adani Group.
The project at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) replaces a concession agreement with Adani that was cancelled in 2024 amid legal and political scrutiny over its financing and governance structure.
According to government-linked reports and international financial sources, construction is expected to begin this month, funded through Kenya’s National Infrastructure Fund alongside commercial loans backed by aviation revenues.
The long-term expansion plan forms part of a 20-year master framework running to 2045, aimed at transforming JKIA into a regional aviation hub with significantly increased passenger and cargo handling capacity.
In the first phase, authorities plan to upgrade terminals, runways, taxiways, access roads and digital infrastructure, with a target of raising annual capacity to about 12 million passengers within 18 months of completion.
CCCC, a Chinese state-owned engineering giant, has previously executed major infrastructure projects in Kenya, including the Nairobi Expressway and sections of the Standard Gauge Railway.
The deal highlights China’s continued role in Kenya’s infrastructure sector, even as the government seeks to diversify financing through a mix of public funding and commercial borrowing.
No detailed contract breakdown has yet been officially published, but the project is being described as one of the most significant airport developments in East Africa in recent years.
