(NAIROBI, KENYA) – China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) reported operating revenue of RMB204 million (KES 3.9 billion) from its Nairobi Expressway concession in the six months to 30th June 2026, up from RMB190 million (KES 3.6 billion) in the corresponding period of 2025. The KES 3.9 billion half year revenue amounts to about $30 million / £24 million / €27 million at current exchange rates, representing growth of about 7.4%.
The revenue translates to KES 21.5 million daily. The group’s interim report shows that all its concession projects generated RMB3.936 billion (KES 74.6 billion) during the period, meaning Nairobi accounted for about 5.2% of concession revenue.
The Nairobi asset remains small compared with the scale of the Chinese infrastructure giant. CCCC reported group revenue of RMB333.16 billion (KES 6.4 trillion) in the first half of 2026, down 1.16% from the previous year. Nairobi’s RMB204 million therefore represented only about 0.061% of total group revenue. The company operates in 139 countries and regions, making the Nairobi road a relatively small but strategically important overseas concession asset.
The Chinese firm recorded RMB200 million from the Nairobi concession in 2023, RMB323 million (KES 6.1 billion) in 2024 and RMB406 million (KES 7.7 billion) in 2025. The road’s accumulated investment stood at RMB4.7 billion (KES 89.3 billion) by June 2026, while its toll collection rights run for 27 years. The accumulated investment equals about $692 million / £547 million / €628 million.
Official Public Private Partnership data shows the road averaged 67,298 vehicles a day in the 2024/25 financial year, compared with about 59,000 two years earlier and only 11,000 when operations began. During the first half of the 2024/25 financial year, 12.5 million vehicles used the road.
Higher traffic has not automatically translated into profits. Treasury data showed the operator recorded a KES 1.84 billion loss in the six months to December 2024, after collecting KES 7.16 billion in tolls against about KES 9 billion in expenses, including debt servicing, operations and maintenance. The loss amounts to about $14 million / £11 million / €13 million.
Investment analysts have argued that although the expressway is commercially successful in attracting motorists, its financial model carries substantial long term financing costs and foreign exchange exposure.
The road was developed under a 30 year build operate transfer arrangement, with 27 years of toll collection after construction. Kenya’s PPP Directorate puts the project value at KES 86.8 billion ($673 million / £532 million / €610 million), with Moja Expressway responsible for financing, operating and maintaining the road before transferring it back to the State.
Original projections envisaged toll revenues of about KES 302.5 billion over the concession, while earlier government estimates placed annual revenue at roughly KES 11.2 billion. The projected toll revenue over the concession equals about $2.34 billion / £1.85 billion / €2.13 billion.
Mathew Mugambi, an investment banker, said the model places traffic and revenue risk largely on the private operator rather than the taxpayer, insulating taxpayers from unnecessary liabilities.