More motorists are turning to the Nairobi Expressway, helping push the road’s average daily revenue to Sh21.5 million as its operator recorded higher earnings in the first half of 2026.
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), the parent group of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), made RMB204 million (Sh3.9 billion) from the Nairobi Expressway concession between January and June.
The latest earnings were higher than the RMB190 million (Sh3.6 billion) recorded in the first six months of 2025. The increase represents growth of about 7.4 per cent over the same period last year.
Spread across the six-month period, the Sh3.9 billion income amounts to about Sh21.5 million collected each day from the concession.
The Nairobi road has also become a notable contributor to CCCC’s wider portfolio of concession projects. The Chinese company said its concession business brought in RMB3.936 billion (Sh74.6 billion) during the period, with the Nairobi Expressway accounting for about 5.2 per cent of the total.
However, the Kenyan project remains a small portion of the infrastructure company’s overall business.
CCCC posted revenue of RMB333.16 billion (Sh6.4 trillion) in the six months to June 30, 2026. This was a 1.16 per cent drop compared with the previous year, leaving the Nairobi concession’s RMB204 million contribution at only about 0.061 per cent of total group revenue.
The company has operations in 139 countries and regions, placing the Nairobi Expressway among its overseas concession investments.
Its earnings from the road have risen over the past three years. Revenue stood at RMB200 million in 2023, before climbing to RMB323 million (Sh6.1 billion) in 2024 and RMB406 million (Sh7.7 billion) in 2025.
By June this year, CCCC’s accumulated investment in the Nairobi project had reached RMB4.7 billion (Sh89.3 billion).
The operator holds toll-collection rights for 27 years, with the concession forming part of a 30-year build-operate-transfer arrangement.
The stronger financial performance has come as the number of vehicles using the road continues to increase.
Figures from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme show that the Expressway carried an average of 67,298 vehicles every day during the 2024/25 financial year.
The figure was up from about 59,000 vehicles a day two years earlier and far above the 11,000 recorded when the road started operations.
In the first six months of the 2024/25 financial year, a total of 12.5 million vehicles used the road, showing how its role in Nairobi’s transport network has expanded.
Despite the growing number of motorists and higher toll collections, the Expressway has not always generated a profit for its operator.
Treasury figures show that the concession recorded a Sh1.84 billion loss in the six months to December 2024.
During that period, the operator collected Sh7.16 billion in tolls but spent about Sh9 billion. The expenditure included debt repayment, road operations and maintenance.
The financial pressure has raised questions about how much of the rising toll income will translate into profits over the long term.
Investment analysts have said the road has been commercially successful in drawing motorists, but its financing structure comes with large long-term costs.
The project is also exposed to foreign-exchange movements, adding another financial challenge for the operator.
The PPP arrangement requires Moja Expressway to finance, operate and maintain the road before eventually handing it back to the State.
The PPP Directorate places the value of the project at Sh86.8 billion.
Under the original projections, the Expressway was expected to generate about Sh302.5 billion in toll revenue over the concession period. Earlier government estimates had also placed the expected annual revenue at around Sh11.2 billion.
With traffic continuing to grow, the road is now generating daily collections that are well above the initial levels recorded when it opened, although the operator still has to meet the substantial costs tied to financing and running the project.