OPINION: Kenya must reconsider airport development through PPP

Kenya sits at the crossroads of Africa’s fastest-growing aviation and logistics corridors, yet trying to compete in a new era with airport assets designed for an old one. Our region is not waiting for us. 

Addis Ababa has built a formidable hub model around Ethiopian Airlines, while Dubai and Doha keep raising the bar for connectivity and passenger experience. Closer home, Kigali has made a strategic bet that should wake us up. 

Rwanda is positioning itself as a serious regional gateway by partnering with Qatar Airways in the development of the new Bugesera International Airport - an investment structured around building, owning, and operating a state-of-the-art facility, with Qatar Airways taking a majority stake. 

This is the lesson that airports are no longer just infrastructure; they are economic platforms. 

A modern international airport is a magnet for airlines, conferences, tourism, perishable exports, e-commerce logistics, aircraft maintenance, and the wider ecosystem of jobs that follow connectivity. 

When a country upgrades its airport capacity and service standards, it is not merely “improving a terminal”—it is upgrading its competitiveness. Kigali’s approach recognizes that capital, airline networks, and operational expertise can be partnered for national gain, so long as the deal is smart, transparent, and anchored in public interest. 

Kenya must now make that same strategic leap, decisively, but carefully. We have seen the intensity of public debate around airport concessions and PPP proposals in recent years. 

That controversy should not become an excuse for paralysis; it should become the reason we do things better. We cannot shy away from difficult decisions simply because they attract scrutiny. 

Kenya must instead build a higher standard of procurement integrity, disclosure, independent value-for-money assessments, and enforceable performance obligations—so that when we partner, Kenyans can see clearly what we are getting, what we are giving, and how risks are allocated.  

The reality is that Kenya’s aviation demand will grow, competition will intensify, and the cost of inaction will be paid in lost routes, lost cargo opportunities, and lost tourism receipts. 

Even the National Government has acknowledged the need to expand and modernize airport capacity and has explored multiple financing routes beyond the traditional budget model, including development finance and PPP frameworks. 

This is why I am proposing a deliberate PPP push focused not only on Nairobi, but also on Moi International Airport, Mombasa. If Kenya is serious about being a logistics and tourism powerhouse, then Mombasa cannot remain an afterthought. 

Our coastal airport sits beside the region’s busiest seaport, on the Indian Ocean rim, serving a natural hinterland that reaches deep into East and Central Africa. Mombasa is already a gateway for trade, cruises, beach and cultural tourism, and the blue economy. 

With the right airport infrastructure, it can become a passenger and cargo hub that complements Nairobi—not competes with it—while strengthening Kenya’s overall resilience.

A Moi International redevelopment should be framed as a national competitiveness project with clear outcomes including expanded terminal capacity and passenger experience, modern baggage and security systems, enhanced airside efficiency, upgraded cargo handling, cold-chain facilities, and perishable export capacity, and a credible plan to attract and retain international carriers through reliable turnaround times and world-class service standards. 

The PPP structure should prioritize performance: timelines, service-level standards, safety and compliance, affordability, and measurable local economic benefits—jobs, training, local supplier participation, and tourism growth.

Critically, we must design the PPP to protect the public interest. That means competitive tendering, transparent disclosure of key terms, independent technical and financial due diligence, and strong regulatory oversight that prevents monopoly pricing and guarantees service quality. 

It also means ring-fencing sovereignty so that the asset remains Kenya’s. The partnership is about building and operating to agreed standards for an agreed period, with clear reversion terms and dispute resolution mechanisms. 

Kenya’s PPP framework already contemplates the importance of public interest and transparency; we must apply it with discipline and courage. 

If Kigali can partner strategically to build a new gateway and pull more routes into its network, Kenya—Africa’s larger economy and one of its most dynamic destinations—can certainly modernize and expand its airports to lead, not chase. The question is not whether the region will develop hubs,  but whether Kenya will be one of them.

Let us therefore make a clear national commitment: redevelop Kenya’s international airports with urgency, and put Moi International Airport at the center of a coastal aviation and logistics strategy. 

Let us compete on quality, capacity, and efficiency. Let us confront controversy with transparency—not retreat. And let us embrace smart PPPs that deliver world-class infrastructure while safeguarding Kenyans’ interests. The future of our connectivity—and the jobs and opportunities that come with it—demands nothing less.

The writer, Abdullswamad Nassir, is the Governor of Mombasa County and the ODM Deputy Party Leader