Speeds Bumps on the Superhighway

Speedbumps on the Thika superhighway. photo: Kathleen Walsh: https://kathleengoestokenya.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/top-10-kenyan-surprises-so-far/

In November 2012, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki officially inaugurated the country’s first eight-lane road, known as the Nairobi-Thika superhighway. Construction took nearly three years and more than 4,000 workers. The highway heads NNE from Nairobi and is part of an expanse known as the Great North Trans-African Highway, meant to connect Cape Town (South Africa) to Cairo (Egypt). 

As it leaves Nairobi, the superhighway narrows from eight lanes to four. By the time it reaches the outskirts of Thika town, some 50 km from the capital, the road loses its “super” status and reverts to a two-lane highway. And that is how it continues over the Aberdare Mountains, past Mount Kenya, and across the northern Kenyan drylands all the way to the Ethiopian border. When I was up north in 2016, some of the furthest sections of the road had yet to be paved, though construction was underway to tarmac the full stretch.

Good roads are a rarity in Kenya. The number of major highways can be counted on one hand and rarely feature more than two lanes. Those connecting the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi and points beyond (e.g., Uganda, South Sudan) are deeply rutted and pocked from overuse and poor construction or maintenance. Famously, the last 80 km of the road leading to Kenya’s famous Maasai Mara reserve (one of the country’s biggest tourist draws) are not only unpaved but bone-rackingly bumpy and difficult.

So, the opening of the Thika superhighway was a big deal. Besides cutting travel times, the new road was expected to boost transport and trade – and through a phenomenon called the multiplier effect, serve as a major driver for economic growth. The expected payoffs in terms of new jobs and economic opportunities were such that the highway was dubbed “Kenya’s newest road to prosperity.”

Indeed, the superhighway has successfully spurred everything from corporate investments in new residential and commercial properties to the widespread development of small-scale shops, eateries, entertainment venues, and lodgings. It has cut travel times from Nairobi to Thika by half or more. And it is contributing to Thika’s booming growth and the development of bedroom communities along the way.

But the superhighway’s development has not been entirely smooth.

Most people in Kenya do not drive (gridlocked traffic in Nairobi notwithstanding). The country is ranked 152^nd worldwide in terms of per capita car ownership, with only 24 car owners per 1000 people. Compare that to bike/public transit-friendly Europe, where car ownership rates are well over 500 per 1000 people or the US where they are nearly 800 per 1,000. As a result, large swaths of the Kenyan population walk. And, if they can afford the fare, they depend on buses or motorcycle-taxis (known here as boda-bodas) to travel longer distances.

So, unlike highways in Europe or North America, where pedestrians are prohibited, the Thika superhighway is crowded with people – getting rides, hawking wares, and generally going about their business. And because of all the activity surrounding the super-highway, many of the pedestrians need to get from one side of its many lanes to the other.

For them, there are pedestrian overpasses, raised high above the highway to make room for even the tallest truckloads. But these are few and far between – and not necessarily well placed. Three of the footbridges empty onto highway no-man’s-lands, forcing pedestrians to cross dangerous feeder roads. The pedestrian bridges also have become the hangout of thugs, who wait to rob those trying to get from one side to the other, especially after dark.

To compensate for the lack of pedestrian bridges (or because funds for more of them were misappropriated), the highway developers installed a series of speed bumps and crosswalks at regular intervals ON THE SUPERHIGHWAY.  Not surprisingly, the results are anything but safe and efficient. For pedestrians, the crosswalks are  a dangerous but necessary gamble, and for motorists they are the causes of enormous back-ups and delays, largely defeating one of the super-highway’s primary purposes.

For those of us living in Kenya, the concept of speed bumps along a super highway is frustrating, but not entirely surprising. Indeed, it is an apt metaphor for many of the development efforts in this promising and industrious country.

Kenya has the largest economy in East Africa, and is expected to see a further 5.7-6% growth in 2017. This, in spite of a protracted drought that is threatening agricultural production (and millions of lives) in large parts of the country. Kenya has a growing middle class and has risen from low to middle income status.

But progress has been hindered by internal speed bumps in the form of corruption and cumbersome public policies. In September 2016, for example, the Kenyan government introduced a cap on the interest rates that banks can charge for loans. The effect has been to block access to credit for all but those that can meet increasingly high loan standards. Small and medium-sized enterprises, which fuel growth and development, are particularly hard hit – as are those that previously enjoyed concessionary rates for providing positive social impacts (e.g., clean energy, youth employment). The impact of the restricted credit flow, according to IMF estimates, will likely shave several percentage points off Kenya’s GDP growth.

Other factors, such as difficulties related to starting a business, registering property, enforcing contracts, and dealing with construction permits also impede development, and Kenya fares poorly (ranked 92 out of 190 countries) in the World Bank’s 2017 Ease of Doing Business indicators. A further World Bank report on Kenya’s economic growth revealed in 2016 that for the past decade the country has lagged behind expectations, and its East African neighbors, in terms of growth, exports, and investments. Had it kept pace with countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania, the average Kenyan income would have been 15% higher than it is – not necessarily benefiting everyone equally, but driving more jobs and demand.

Slowdowns in agricultural production and trade, along with a stagnant manufacturing industry, are partly to blame for putting the brakes on development. But the main culprits have to do with a dearth of functioning institutions. Education and health care are woefully inadequate and under-funded in Kenya. Public doctors and teachers have been on strike for months at a time because the government has not come through with overdue salary increases negotiated several years ago. Labor laws are outdated, and government processes are riddled with red tape, bribery, and corruption. Patronage, venality, and the despoiling of public resources have been longstanding characteristics of the Kenyan political system. Rampant corruption and a rip-off mentality trigger a social contagion that pervades just about every sector of society.

While these bumps and blockages may slow Kenya’s road to prosperity for years to come, the ones snarling traffic on the Kenya superhighway are destined to disappear soon. Last month a handful of high-level politicians, no doubt tired of sitting in stalled superhighway traffic, succeeded in pushing through a decision ordering the removal of the Thika highway speed bumps. The move created a flurry of suits and battles, including arguments over who should cover the costs. It also has presumably resulted in the planned building of four additional pedestrian footbridges – as soon as the money is awarded (sic).

Political action may smooth the way for drivers navigating between Nairobi and Thika. What it does to remove the greater barriers impeding Kenya’s road forward remains to be seen.

As the highway crosses northern Kenya, camels are more likely to slow traffic than vehicles.