Kenya has opened fresh bidding for two highway contracts that will extend bitumen standards deeper into its arid northwest, advancing a long-delayed transport corridor linking the country to South Sudan.
- •The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is inviting contractors to compete for the upgrading of a 54-kilometer stretch between Morpus and Kainuk and a further 75 kilometers from Kainuk to Lokichar, both key segments of the A1 trunk road.
- •The tenders form part of a broader corridor running from Lesseru through Kitale toward the South Sudan border, backed by financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
- •The works sit within a roughly KSh 28.8 billion AfDB-supported Phase 1 program covering about 193 kilometers in Kenya.
The Morpus–Kainuk section calls for roughly 2.5 million cubic meters of excavation, more than 100,000 cubic meters of cement-stabilized base, 50,000 cubic meters of bitumen surfacing, and tens of thousands of cubic meters of concrete works, underscoring the scale of civil engineering involved. The design replaces gravel and degraded surfaces with layered pavements built for heavy freight vehicles.
Once complete, the roads are expected to cut travel times across Turkana’s vast distances, lower vehicle operating costs and ensure year-round passability in a region where seasonal rains routinely sever access. The corridor is designed to carry trade between Kenya and South Sudan, offering a shorter route for goods moving inland from the port of Mombasa while positioning northern Kenya as a transit bridge rather than a terminus.
The improved road is also critical to opening up a region that has seen renewed oil prospects around Lokichar, where logistics constraints have long weighed on development economics. Kenya is already planning to export its first batch of oil in the first week of December, according to a statement by Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
Structured as open international bids without prequalification, the contracts require bid securities of about KSh 160 million each and allow discounts for firms seeking to secure multiple segments, signaling a tilt toward large, well-capitalized contractors.
Bids for the contracts are due in early July, with construction timelines set at three years, marking the next phase in a corridor that has moved unevenly from plan to execution.
