The Ministry of Treasury of Kenya has finally obtained the ok to the financing from the World Bank for the construction of the second bridge of Nyali in Mombasa, to connect the island to the mainland in the direction of Malindi not only through the only viable route of the current bridge, but with a new structure 600 meters long that will rise five hundred meters east of the current bridge of Nyali, built by the Japanese in 1980.
The works will probably start in June of this year, 63 activities will be removed, mostly unregistered (small shops and local traders, as well as a few hotels, bars and restaurants that will be reimbursed) and about 200 families will have to be relocated elsewhere.
The pillars will be laid beyond the Tamarind Hotel, in line with Links Road, and the 400 meters of suspended four-lane road will join the old town of Mombasa in Abdel Nasser Road, creating a direct connection between Nyali and the city center, while the current route can be used by those who pass through to go to the industrial area, the port, the airport and connect to the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
The project will be carried out according to the public-private partnership model, i.e. the construction will be entrusted to a private entity that will then recover its investment by installing a toll booth for the collection of tolls by motorists.
This solution is part of a new logic that the Government intends to implement also for the new, ventilated Mombasa-Nairobi motorway, whose works have been delayed by the hesitancy of the United States to take care of it. But after the last fruitful meeting between American President Donald Trump and his Kenyan colleague Uhuru Kenyatta, this work could also unblock. The key to renouncing proposals and loans from Chinese companies and strengthening relations with other world economic powers could be to move away from this formula of financing with return to the users and not to the state.
"The Government of Kenya has received financing from the World Bank for the costs of infrastructure and PPP financing and intends to allocate part of the proceeds to consultancy services. The consultancy services will be carried out over a period of 24 months with a start date scheduled for June 2020", reads the tender notice.
Awaiting feasibility studies and funding requests for the Likoni bridge, which would connect the other side of the island to the south coast, which is currently without any bridge and is still connected by ferry, this will be the most important project in the coming years for Mombasa, and its impact on traffic and tourism will be crucial, given that, as reported by the national economic daily Business Daily, over 70 percent of vehicles bound for Mombasa arrive from Nyali. On the other hand, the only bridge available was built almost 40 years ago when Kenya's second largest city had just over 200,000 inhabitants, now has six times that number and according to government projections it will reach 1.5 million people in 2025.