The Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance has approved a USD 3.15 million grant to fund a feasibility study for upgrading Kenya's 243-km Mau Summit-Malaba road. The approval came during an MCDF Governing Committee meeting in Beijing on November 25, 2025. The initiative seeks to enhance regional connectivity and address transport bottlenecks.
The Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), backed by China, has approved a USD 3.15 million (Ksh 408,586,500) grant to aid preparations for the Mau Summit-Malaba road project. The decision was announced at the MCDF Governing Committee meeting in Beijing on November 25, 2025. The funding will support a feasibility study for upgrading a 243-kilometer road section from Mau Summit to Malaba town, a key entry point to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The committee stated that the study will evaluate various project aspects, including technical feasibility, resilience against climate and engineering risks, environmental and social protections, and toll affordability. "It will also foster a transparent, bankable PPP aligned with International Financial Institution standards and able to mobilise substantial private investment as well as prepare the project’s PPP structure, contract, and tendering documents," MCDF noted in a statement.
This MCDF-backed study builds on a pre-feasibility assessment funded by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and responds to the Kenyan government's formal request for assistance in advancing the project. The committee emphasized the initiative's importance in strengthening links between East Africa's landlocked areas and the Mombasa port.
Beyond stimulating the East African economy, the project is expected to ease traffic congestion, cut truck idling and carbon emissions, and shorten travel times along the Mau Summit-Malaba route and the Trans-African Highway Network.
The news follows President William Ruto's recent announcement that construction of the 170-km dual carriageway from Rironi-Naivasha to Mau Summit will start on November 28, 2025. Ruto shared this after meeting Zhang Bingman, president of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), on November 17. CCCC's subsidiary, China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC), will lead the work alongside Shandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering (SDRBI). “The dualling of the 170km Rironi-Naivasha-Mau Summit road begins on November 28, 2025. This will facilitate movement, boost trade, and end decades of traffic gridlock, congestion, delays, and disastrous road incidents,” Ruto stated.