Kenya has contracted the Trade and Development Bank and Africa Finance Corporation to arrange financing for a $1.2 billion expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Transport Minister Davis Chirchir confirmed on Thursday. The project aims to nearly triple JKIA’s annual passenger handling capacity from 7.5 million to 22 million, positioning Nairobi to compete more aggressively with Addis Ababa and Kigali for regional aviation dominance.
The expansion had been on hold after Kenya cancelled a deal with India’s Adani Group in 2024, following the indictment of its founder in the United States. With TDB and AFC now appointed as financing arrangers, the project is moving again, and Kenya is betting that airport revenue streams can carry a significant portion of the cost without adding further strain to an already stretched government balance sheet.
How the Project Will Be Financed
“The project is intended to be funded through leveraging of airport-based revenue streams. The arrangers will crowd in Development Financial Institutions and commercial banks,” Minister Chirchir said in his statement.
The financing model is designed to keep the expansion off the government’s direct borrowing books as much as possible. By using JKIA’s own revenue, including landing fees, terminal charges, and retail concessions, as the primary repayment source, Kenya is structuring this as a project finance deal rather than a sovereign loan. That distinction matters given the country’s current debt position.
What the Expansion Covers
The project, capped at KSh154.2 billion, involves rehabilitating existing airport infrastructure including runways and aprons, and constructing an entirely new passenger terminal. Construction is expected to take three years once financing is finalised and construction contracts are formalised.
Taking JKIA from 7.5 million to 22 million passengers annually is a near-tripling of capacity that would fundamentally change the airport’s competitive position in East Africa. Nairobi currently handles more international traffic than any other city in the region, but that lead is being challenged actively by Ethiopian Airlines through Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport and by Rwanda’s Kigali International Airport, which is being expanded significantly.
The China Construction Company Question
Local and international media have reported that China Communication Construction Company has already won the construction contract for the expansion. Minister Chirchir confirmed that an international competitive bidding process had taken place but did not address the reports about CCCC directly in his statement.
The identity of the construction contractor matters because it shapes the financing conversation. Chinese infrastructure projects in Africa often come with tied financing arrangements involving Chinese development banks, which can affect the cost of capital and the terms attached to the deal. Whether CCCC’s reported involvement comes with a Chinese financing component or operates independently of the TDB and AFC arrangement will be one of the key details to watch as the project moves forward.
Why Kenya Needs This Expansion Now
Kenya’s aviation ambitions are directly tied to its broader economic strategy. JKIA is the country’s most important gateway for tourism, trade, and regional connectivity. An airport that cannot handle growing passenger volumes becomes a bottleneck for the entire economy, pushing airlines and travellers toward competing hubs.
Ethiopia has invested billions in making Addis Ababa a continental aviation hub through Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa’s fastest-growing carriers. Rwanda has taken a similar approach with RwandAir and a major airport expansion in Kigali. Kenya cannot afford to stand still while its regional competitors build the infrastructure to capture traffic that currently flows through Nairobi.
Infrastructure Finance in a Tight Fiscal Environment
The choice of TDB and AFC as arrangers also reflects Kenya’s constrained fiscal reality. After years of heavy borrowing that pushed public debt to uncomfortable levels, the government is actively seeking infrastructure financing models that do not require direct sovereign guarantees or add to the national debt stock.
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Project finance structures backed by dedicated revenue streams are one of the cleaner ways to build infrastructure in that environment. If the JKIA expansion can be funded primarily through airport revenues with development finance institutions and commercial banks sharing the risk, it becomes a template Kenya could apply to other infrastructure projects where user-fee revenue is predictable enough to service debt.
The Trade and Development Bank has a long track record of arranging infrastructure finance across East Africa, and AFC brings both capital and regional credibility to the table. Between them, they give the JKIA project a financing arrangement that should be taken seriously by the development finance institutions and commercial lenders they are tasked with bringing into the deal.