Kenya, US in Ksh.8B deal to expedite Nairobi’s sustainable transport agenda

MCC’s threshold grants help countries to reduce constraints to faster economic growth and increase transparency and accountability in the provision of public services.

MCC CEO Alice Albright, President of Kenya William S. Ruto, and Njuguna Ndung’u, Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Economic Planning of Kenya, upon the signing of the threshold program agreement between MCC and the Government of Kenya. PHOTO: Courtesy of MCC.

By EB Content Studio and agencies

Kenyan President William Ruto has signed a Ksh.8B (Us$60 million) grant agreement with the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York. The grant will help improve urban transport in Nairobi by concentrating on four projects, making the Kenya program the largest of its kind within MCC’s portfolio.

The MCC is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries that have been determined to have good economic policies and potential for economic growth

Ruto lauded the new agreement with MCC, at the signing in New York City earlier  this week where he is also attending the 78th session of this year’s U.N. General Assembly.

“There is a whole one million people who come in and out of Nairobi every day; that poses a very significant challenge on the transport infrastructure. Apart from the Matatu transport system, the mass bus transport system is a very important component,” he said.

Threshold grants help countries to reduce constraints to faster economic growth and increase transparency and accountability in the provision of public services.

Alice Albright, the MCC CEO, pointed out this grant – the second one to Kenya since 2003 – will be the largest and most ambitious threshold agreement that MCC has signed in its 20-year history.

“We like to measure with all of our work, and in this case we estimate to about 4.3 million people could be helped by this threshold agreement,” she said.

James Gerard, MCC’s managing director for threshold programs, said this program, which includes four projects, will help support the Kenyan government in improving transportation and land use planning in the capital, Nairobi.

“One, to help build the capacity of the Nairobi metropolitan area transport authority [NAMATA] with their transportation planning needs,” he said.

“Second project will focus on what we call, non-motorised transport, so helping citizens — particularly citizens of working class — who use non-motorized transport as well as informal forms of transport, such as Matatus.”

A vast majority of commuter trips in and out of Nairobi are taken using Matatus, which are privately owned public transport. According to a State House statement, the funds will aid in acquisition of electric buses to operate on the bus rapid transit (BRT) line 2 to ease traffic congestion within the Nairobi Metropolitan Area.

“The third project will focus on land use in and around certain areas of Nairobi trying to help urban planning around transportation hubs to better make use of that land. And finally, the fourth project is really to focus on helping finance future options around bus rapid transit in Nairobi and particularly looking at greener options to move citizens around the city perhaps using electric vehicles,” said Gerard.

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