Kenya plans to allow businesses to rent space at its diplomatic missions in six African countries in a policy shift aimed at easing reliance on Exchequer funding.

This is part of a policy move whereby private investors will build, rehabilitate and maintain diplomatic properties in Cairo, Lusaka, Harare, Bujumbura, Juba and Kinshasa under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The plans to fund the facelifts through the PPP model come barely a year after Kenya allocated Sh170 million and Sh120 million to renovate the diplomatic properties in Lusaka and Kinshasa. But the Treasury continues to struggle to free the cash for the revamp alongside other missions across the globe.

“The project scope includes construction of purpose-built chanceries, consular halls, ambassadorial residences, staff housing units and in select locations integrated commercial components with trade/commercial spaces to enhance financial sustainability,” the PPP Directorate said in a disclosure.

“The expected outcome is a modern, secure and sustainable diplomatic infrastructure platform that strengthens Kenya’s diplomatic presence while improving long-term asset value and operational efficiency,” it said.

The upgrade works on Kenya’s diplomatic missions in the six countries will entail the construction of purpose-built chanceries, consular halls, ambassadorial residences and staff housing units.

The PPP unit says that the expected outcome is a ‘modern, secure and sustainable diplomatic infrastructure platform that strengthens Kenya’s diplomatic presence while improving long-term asset value and operational efficiency’.

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Investors will design and finance the construction of the properties, then maintain them over a concession period to recoup their money before handing them back to the government of Kenya.

The six properties will mark the maiden PPP-funded construction or rehabilitation of Kenya’s diplomatic missions, helping the country to revamp aging properties without burdening the Exchequer.

Most of these missions continue to grapple with funding cuts from Exchequer, hurting efforts to give them a facelift. Workers in the missions have also faced delayed salary payments.

The upcoming works at the six diplomatic missions in Africa are the latest projects where Treasury has turned to the PPP model in a bid to deliver projects without burdening the Exchequer or incurring fresh debt.

The PPP model has delivered the Sh86.8 billion Nairobi Expressway, the 35Megawatt (MW) Sosian Menengai geothermal power Plant, the Galana-Kulalu (Nafaka) Food Security Project and roads across several counties.

Other PPP-funded projects currently underway are the 233-kilometre Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway, two geothermal power plants each of 35MW, being developed by Quantum and OrPower 22 in Menengai, and 3,069 residential units for the Kenya Defence Forces.

→ jmutua@ke.nationmedia.com

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