ZIMBABWEAN Businessman Mr Wicknell Chivayo’s company, IMC Construction Kenya, has won a tender to reconstruct and modernise the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for US$2.9 billion.
The tender was initially awarded to the Indian firm Adani Group, at US$2 billion, was cancelled and subsequently awarded to IMC Construction under a joint venture with state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has not yet issued a detailed public breakdown of the final contract structure, but the project is expected to significantly increase capacity at the country’s main international gateway.
The expansion will add capacity for 15 million passengers annually through the construction of a new terminal, according to specifications released in February by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.
JKIA currently handles about 8.8 million passengers per year, slightly above its original design capacity of eight million.
IMC Kenya partnered with state-owned China Communications Construction Company and its subsidiary China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to undertake the massive project.
CCCC is a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including highways, skyways, bridges, tunnels, railways (especially high-speed rail), subways, airports, oil platforms and marine ports.
CCCC has been a contractor for numerous Belt and Road Initiative projects. It was included in the Fortune Global 500 list for 2016.
The company had revenue of US$136 billion in 2023, net income of US$1.6 billion and net assets valued at US$361.4 billion.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Chivayo were fruitless by the time of going to print, but highly placed CCCC confirmed the awarding of the tender to the consortium led by the Zimbabwean businessman.
“The tender has been awarded to the joint venture between IMC Construction Kenya and China Communications Construction Company and construction should be completed within three years of the parties concluding the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract,” said a CCCC executive on condition of anonymity.
Mr Chivayo wholly owns IMC Construction Kenya and has previously won multi-million dollar contracts back home, including the US$175 million tender to build the Gwanda 100 megawatt (MW) solar project, US$163 million to repower Munyati Power Station and US$131 million to construct the 30MW Gairezi hydro power station.
Apart from IMC Kenya, Mr Chivayo also wholly owns Intratrek Zimbabwe, a major infrastructure and energy firm active in renewable energy projects and Intratrek Limited, a UK-registered company that functions as an international extension of his energy and business investments.
He founded IMC Communications, a Zimbabwean telecommunications firm that previously acquired an Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence and has since pivoted into road construction and heavy civil works.
The businessman is also the proprietor of Edenbreeze, a South African-registered firm used to facilitate regional operations and logistics. The massive Kenyan aviation infrastructure development deal sheds some light on Mr Chivayo’s publicised meetings with Kenyan President William Ruto and his frequent visits to East Africa’s biggest economy.
President Ruto is on record saying that the construction works at JKIA are expected to begin in July, stating that the government has secured both a plan and funding to proceed with the project.
“Our airport was constructed in 1972. We tried to build another one and it was opposed. Today, some of the terminals are made of canvas, and it is embarrassing. I want to assure you that beginning in July, we will start the construction of another airport. We have a plan and the resources to build the airport,” he said.
During one of his many visits to Kenya, Mr Chivayo reportedly described President Ruto as a mentor, including meetings at Sagana State Lodge and Wajir State Lodge during which they reportedly held discussions on multi-million-dollar investments.
The consortium’s win follows the cancellation of a controversial US$2 billion deal previously awarded to the Adani Group, which was cancelled following protestation from labour unions over a lack of local representation.
Kenya will reportedly contribute US$1.3 billion in equity into the project, with the remainder financed through local and Chinese banks.
To eliminate the capital constraints that previously stalled the project, Kenya established the National Infrastructure Fund, capitalised using revenues from the privatisation of the Kenya Pipeline Company.
The JKIA expansion comes as Kenya faces stiff competition in the region as neighbours race to expand their own aviation capacity. Rwanda is building the new Bugesera International Airport, targeting 14 million passengers annually, with a seven-million-passenger first phase due to open in 2027.
Tanzania has increased capacity at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to eight million passengers, while Ethiopia broke ground in January on a new airport at Bishoftu designed to handle 110 million travellers a year.-herald
