Half a year into use, toll road backed by China wins fans as traffic-buster

As general manager of a leading hotel in Nairobi, Irshad Quazzafi used to worry that he was losing business from prospective foreign guests put off by the hotel's distance from the Kenyan capital's main airport.

Just six months ago, commuters traveling the 17-kilometer stretch from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the city center would spend two hours stuck on the traffic-clogged trip.

However, once the China-funded Nairobi Expressway was opened to the public in July, business for Quazzafi began booming. Not only does the expressway slash the travel time between the eastern and western sides of Nairobi from two hours to just under 20 minutes, but it also significantly reduces logistics and commuting costs.

The sleek roadway has made it easy for Quazzafi to transport customers from the airport to the hotel and various conference and tourist destinations across the city. As a result, Quazzafi's company was among the high-use clients recognized on Tuesday as the expressway marked 10 million vehicles usage.

Built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and fully funded by the Chinese government through a public-private partnership with the Kenyan government, the expressway is a 27.1-km Class A Highway with a four-lane dual carriageway that broadens to six lanes in some sections.

Just six months after its launch, the expressway has greatly improved commuting in Nairobi and has become a daily travel habit of many Kenyans, with 50,000 vehicles taking to the roadway on a working day.

Marking the landmark of 10 million vehicles having used the expressway, Steve Zhao, chief executive of expressway manager Moja Expressway Company, thanked the Kenyan government for partnering with China to provide the infrastructure that has helped Kenyans get to their destinations without fuss and transform Nairobi as a regional transport hub.

Zhao said that since the launch of the expressway, his company has introduced measures to improve services, including an electronic toll collection system that allows motorists to pass through toll booths in just three seconds.

As of Tuesday, the expressway had registered over 120,000 users of the system.

Eco-friendly system

"The electronic toll collection system helps save fuel, which is a direct contribution to environmental conservation and it also comes with a 5 percent discount on toll fees per trip. A recent study highlighted that if a motorist makes 10,000 trips using the electronic payment option, they can save up to 314 liters of fuel and reduce 670 kilograms of carbon emissions from the environment," Zhao said.

Quazzafi said that his hotel, as a corporate user, enjoys a discount with the electronic toll system and the fuel savings have greatly improved his bottom line. In addition, the security on the expressway and the availability of towing services are attractive to his customers, especially those arriving in the country late at night.

Joseph Mbugua, Kenya's principal secretary in the Ministry of Roads and Transport, thanked the Chinese contractors for completing the road in almost half the time allocated.

He also commended the Chinese government for venturing into public-private partnership projects with Kenya and invited it to work with the Kenyan government on more infrastructure projects.