STORY: Kenyan highway upgrade boosts business, enhances regional connectivity
SHOOTING TIME: May 27, 2024
DATELINE: May 28, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:24
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Kenol-Sagana-Marua Highway
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CLEOPHAS MAKAU, Deputy director of the Kenya National Highways Authority and the project's coordinator
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RICHARD MALINGA, Principal transport engineer at the African Development Bank

STORYLINE:

A highway linking the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to the country's agriculturally-rich central region, has nearly completed its upgrade to a four-lane dual highway. 

Previously, the 84-km Kenol-Sagana-Marua Highway was a congested two-lane road that travelers often avoided.

The road improvement project, which began in 2020, is being undertaken by two Chinese companies. 

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CLEOPHAS MAKAU, Deputy director of the Kenya National Highways Authority and the project's coordinator
"The contractor has delivered according to specifications. They are doing very high-quality work. We are satisfied with the progress so far, and as I have said, we have done inspections and handed over some of the sections."

An engineer at the African Development Bank which financed the project said the road is a key artery in Kenya, and forms part of the Trans-African Highway that runs from Egypt to South Africa. 

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RICHARD MALINGA, Principal transport engineer at the African Development Bank
"In terms of the benefits of the project, we have cut the travel time as one of the beneficiaries I mentioned because the travel time, for example, from where we are to Nairobi city was one and a half hours. Given the improvement of the road, the travel time has been reduced to 45 minutes. So there's been a reduction in the travel time, there's been an improvement in the road safety."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)