Summit remarks · 28 November 2025
Today, we stand at the dawn of a new era, an era defined by ambition and driven by determination, as we launch the Nairobi– Nakuru–Mau Summit Road and the Nairobi–Maai Mahiu– Naivasha Project.
This moment is not merely about laying down a new corridor. It is about laying the foundation for a Kenya reborn, a Kenya that refuses to wait any longer for the future it deserves.
For decades, our country has been trapped between options that have held back progress. Whenever we needed to undertake heavy and necessary infrastructural projects, we were presented with three choices. The first was to rely on the national budget, but this was impossible. A single major highway can swallow nearly half of our entire annual development budget, even as Kenyans face competing priorities such as education and essential services.
The next option was borrowing. But that too was untenable, given our debt burden and the limited fiscal headroom available.
The third option was to slow down on development and simply stay as we were. That was never an option; not for a country with our aspirations and our potential.
And so, when it comes to this highway, the situation was clear. If we waited for the national budget to release resources for this project, we would have waited a lifetime. If we borrowed, we would have added to our debts and burdened our children for generations to come.
If we taxed more, we would have suffocated families. And if we did nothing, we would have surrendered to stagnation.
That is the reality and crisis our country has faced for years: stagnation born out of helplessness, born out of a lack of ambition, imagination, and innovation.
This stagnation has become a quiet paralysis that crept into our systems, into our confidence, and into our national spirit. It convinced us that mediocrity was normal, that average was acceptable, that delay was destiny. Stagnation that, in truth, was slow regression.
But today, we break those chains. We promised to be innovators, we promised to build differently, and today, we keep that promise boldly, unapologetically, unmistakably.
This project we launch today is more than a highway; it’s a gateway to prosperity, unity, and transformation. It positions Kenya as a leader in innovative financing, in modern transport, in public-private partnership, and in the audacity to think big when the world expects us to think small.
The Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit Road stretches 175 kilometres, while the Nairobi–Maai Mahiu–Naivasha Road adds 58 more. These are modern multi-lane dual carriageways, designed, financed, expanded, operated, and maintained through a world-class Public–Private Partnership model.
It is an investment of over 170 billion shillings. A living demonstration of what happens when government stops trying to do everything alone and starts doing things smarter and in partnership with the private sector.
The Nairobi–Nakuru–Mau Summit corridor will be strengthened to handle heavy commercial traffic, supported by new interchanges, truck laybys, pedestrian bridges, lighting, barriers, drainage systems, and intelligent transport technology to enhance safety.
The Nairobi–Maai Mahiu–Naivasha section will be upgraded to handle steep gradients and high cargo volumes, linking efficiently to the Naivasha Inland Container Depot and the emerging industrial ecosystem.
Together, these upgrades will modernise the corridor, unlocking faster, safer, and more efficient movement of people and goods, not only across Kenya, but across East and Central Africa. This route is a vital artery linking Nairobi to Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, sustaining our economy and powering regional trade and opportunity.
For too long, this corridor carried more than it could bear. Traffic consumed our time, accidents stole our loved ones, and delays cost our economy billions. Today we say: no more. With modern engineering, innovation, and accountability, this road will cut travel times, reduce accidents, and save lives.
This project will create thousands of jobs, with 15,000 young Kenyans gaining skills as they help build this highway. It will not only construct roads, but careers and futures, with local content leading and Kenyan businesses at the centre.
We also honour and welcome the expertise of our Chinese partners, whose technology and experience strengthen these projects while helping build capacity within our own workforce.
Last week, I laid out Kenya’s roadmap for a first-world economy. Today, that roadmap moves from words to reality.
Across the country, a new generation of transformative highways is rising. In the coming months, we will break ground on major dual-carriageway corridors, from Muthaiga to Kiambu and Ndumberi, from Machakos Junction to Mariakani, from Mau Summit to Kericho and Kisumu, and from Kisumu onward to Busia.
And we will continue across the Republic: the Athi River– Namanga road, the Karatina–Nanyuki– Isiolo corridor, Makutano–Embu–Meru–Maua, Mtwapa–Malindi, Mombasa– Lunga Lunga, Kericho–Kisii–Migori–Isebania, Nakuru– Nyahururu–Nanyuki, Kisii–Oyugis–Ahero, and key Nairobi corridors such as the Northern Bypass, Bomas–Karen–Ngong, and Bomas–Ongata Rongai–Kiserian—Ngong.
This is how we correct a historic shortfall. Since independence, Kenya has tarmacked only 22,000 kilometres of road. Over a similar historical period, a nation such as Japan has built more than one million kilometres, a contrast that underscores the scale of our long-standing infrastructure gap.
This new Kenyan path centres on investing in our people through enhanced education, expanded STEM programs, and increased research funding. It commits us to becoming a net exporter by scaling up water harvesting and storage, irrigation, and agroindustrial production through extensive dam construction. It compels us to dramatically expand our energy capacity by 10,000 megawatts to power new technologies, data centres, Artificial Intelligence, manufacturing, industrialisation and jobs of the future.
We will expand and upgrade our airports and ports, and beginning in January 2026, we shall extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Kisumu and onward to Malaba, closing the loop, connecting the region, and positioning Kenya as the heart of East Africa’s transport and logistics system.
These infrastructure efforts will boost competitiveness, lower business costs, and connect Kenya more efficiently to regional and global markets.
To finance this transformation sustainably, we are establishing both a National Infrastructure Fund and a Sovereign Wealth Fund, drawing from budgetary allocation, privatisation proceeds, natural resource royalties, and private sector capital. This approach will reduce our dependence on debt and build longterm national wealth for generations to come.
This is how we deliver the vision of our Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. This is how we empower farmers, manufacturers, transporters, and families. This is how we ensure that development is not a privilege, but a birthright.
But the work of building a nation is never the task of government alone. It belongs to every contractor, every local business, every community along this road. Together, we must guard quality. Together, we must uphold transparency. Together, we must ensure that this project becomes a beacon of pride, a testament to our resilience.
Because ultimately, this is not about the kilometres we pave. It is about the lives we change. The opportunities we unlock. The Kenya we dare to imagine, and finally choose to build.
This is our moment to rise from the ordinary. To step away from the average. To leave mediocrity behind and to walk confidently and decisively into excellence.
The work we begin today will echo far beyond our borders, reshaping trade, expanding prosperity, and elevating lives across our region.
To all our partners, officials, workers, and all Kenyans whose belief brought us here, thank you. Together, we are laying the foundations of a prosperous, connected, and confident nation. I thank you. God bless you; God bless Kenya.