Kenya's $3.5bn road project delayed by debt concerns

Kenya's planned $3.5 billion inter-city expressway, the country's second-biggest infrastructure project since independence five decades ago, will be delayed amid concerns by lawmakers that East Africa's largest economy is taking on too much debt, the company building it, San Francisco-based Bechtel Group, said.

Bechtel said in December it was supporting the Kenyan government in negotiations with the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and UK Export Finance to finance the dual carriageway.

Kenya's debt could rise to 58% of GDP by the end of June, from 40.6% in the 2011-12 fiscal year, according to World Bank estimates.

The project involves the construction of a 473km four-lane highway between the capital, Nairobi, and the second-biggest city, Mombasa.