In recent years, Kenya’s development trajectory has greatly been propelled by a slew of ambitious infrastructure projects.
From the roads which transport our goods to the telecommunications which keep us connected, world-class infrastructure provides the foundations to create jobs, grow business and connect people with essential services.
Our experience spans public transport, renewable energy, waste, education, healthcare as well as social infrastructure, rail, roads, bridges, aviation, shipping and ports, among others.
Our lawyers are at the forefront of advising the infrastructure sector, working with clients who invest in, own, operate, manage or provide services to infrastructure assets.
Our knowledge base from working with clients across the public and private sectors means that we have a comprehensive understanding of each of the stakeholder’s concerns and are able to structure transactions in a manner that specifically addresses them. Our strong market knowledge coupled with an extensive regional and international reach enables us to deliver world-class legal services to our clients. We have successfully used this model on numerous infrastructure deals.
Experience has included:
- Advising on various infrastructure projects including:(i) the proposed Second Nyali Bridge PPP Project; (ii) roads under the Roads Annuity PPP Programme; and (iii) a port concession.
- Developing the procurement framework, project structure and documents for the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) rolled out by the Government of Kenya. We have subsequently acted for developers of over 5,000 affordable housing units under the Programme.
- Advising the Government in connection with several health care PPPs including: (i) Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital - College of Health Sciences Project; (ii) Pwani University Teaching and Referral Hospital Project; (iii) The Managed Equipment Services Project across the 47 Counties in Kenya; (iv) Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital Cancer Care Center Project; and (v) a primary healthcare PPP proposed to be piloted in Makueni County before being scaled up to all the 47 Counties in Kenya.
- Advising KenGen on the set up, structure, operationalization and onboarding of investors into the pioneer world class Green Energy (Industrial) Park in a special economic zone in Kenya, with access to 100% renewable energy, logistics infrastructure, and transport networks.
- Inventing a novel solution and structure in connection with the financing and development of County Government headquarters and ancillary facilities by Kenya’s largest pension fund. Our solution entailed creating a charge against the County Revenue Fund, and ring fencing the payments for the Project.
- Acting for lenders, developers and sponsors on renewable energy projects across various technologies including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro-electric, and biomass. Examples of some of our projects that have reached financial close include: (i) a 40 MW Solar Power Project in Malindi County and three (3) others of 40MW each in Uasin Gishu; (ii) a 100 MW Wind Energy Power Project in Kajiado County; (iii) four (4) run-of-river hydro-electric power generation projects; and (iv) three (3) large biomass power projects in East Africa.
- Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the Year (African Legal Awards 2016)
The Kigali Bulk Water Supply (KBWS) project is an exemplar of a successful water PPP. It was established by the Africa Water Infrastructure Development (AWID) platform, which is a joint venture between BII and Metito. It is a pioneering model for the financing, construction and operation of a 40,000 cubic meters/day bulk water facility with a concession term of 27 years.
The high cost of land has often been cited as one of the biggest challenges facing infrastructural development. This is particularly so, where infrastructure development is carried out in phases. Latter phases end up being hit with higher land acquisition costs due to enhanced commerce, habitation and other opportunities resulting from the earlier phases of the investment.
County governments play a crucial role in providing and maintaining infrastructure. This is particularly with respect to the public functions that have been constitutionally assigned to the devolved units under the Constitution of Kenya, including county health services, county roads, street lighting, water and sanitation services, amongst others.
Many governments are increasing their borrowing to pay for infrastructure and the recent bipartisan US infrastructure bills worth an eye-watering USD3.5 trillion are a case in point.