Kenya secured a KES 8 billion grant from the United States on Tuesday aimed largely at expanding bus rapid transit networks in the capital Nairobi to improve urban mobility.
The funding pact was signed during the ongoing 77th United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York by President William Ruto and Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Alice Albright.
The MCC called it the agency’s largest and most ambitious threshold program to date. Threshold programs provide targeted grants to developing countries for key policy reforms and infrastructure projects that eliminate barriers to economic growth.
Albright said the deal reflects the MCC’s strong confidence in Kenya’s commitment to tackling its development obstacles. She noted the agreement underscores the deepening partnership between the two nations.
Ruto described the deal as an “exciting milestone” in strengthening U.S.-Kenya relations. He reaffirmed his government’s eagerness to collaborate with the MCC on program implementation.
“We are working with development partners to deploy innovative transport solutions that increase the competitiveness of our economy and improve the welfare of our people. This will attract investment to the country, create opportunities and raise the quality of life,” Ruto said.
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The five-year, $60 million pact aims to improve connectivity, mobility and access in Nairobi, East Africa’s largest city with 5 million residents.
A substantial component will finance feasibility studies for bus rapid transit expansion, including potential procurement of electric buses to advance environmentally sustainable mobility.
The program will also focus on upgrading pedestrian infrastructure, with an emphasis on women who rely heavily on walking. It further seeks to strengthen long-term planning for integrated, efficient and climate-resilient transportation networks.
“We are fully committed to the meaningful reforms and investments under our Threshold Program, which we jointly developed with the MCC,” said Treasury Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u.
He stressed the program’s value in transforming Nairobi’s overburdened transportation sector through modernizing and greening initiatives like bus rapid transit.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a U.S. foreign aid agency established in 2004 that provides grants to developing countries that meet good governance standards. MCC has committed over $14 billion in funding to more than 30 countries.
