American construction company Bechtel Executive is set to begin work on the Sh300 billion Nairobi-Mombasa expressway.

The road will be built and owned by a private investor after the Kenyan government declined to take a loan to fund the mega highway, in a bid to curb the ballooning public debt.

On Tuesday, Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said  private investors will fund the construction of the 473-kilometre road and recoup back their cash by charging a toll fee.

Kenya’s public debt crossed Sh5 trillion mark this year triggering warnings from international agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bechtel has been pushing Kenya to take a loan for the project, arguing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model would cost the taxpayers Sh540 billion in the next 25 years.

However, CS Macharia noted the PPP model, which will later see the road transferred to the the government, was a cheaper option for Kenya.

“We do not want to take more debt if the private sector can do the job. National Treasury team through the PPP unit and their advisers have done the maths, and preference is for PPP option,” Mr Macharia said in a telephone interview.

The six-lane superhighway will allow motorists to cruise uninterrupted at a speed of 120 kilometre per hour, reducing travel time between the two cities by half. They will, however, pay a toll fee for driving through the infrastructure.