The firms that have reaped big from Macron’s Kenya tour

Three French companies signed business deals worth Sh226 billion (two billion euros) during President Emmanuel Macron’s two-day visit to Kenya, making them the biggest beneficiaries of France’s renewed bid to deepen economic ties with Nairobi.

A consortium led by French infrastructural firm Vinci secured a 30-year concession contract worth Sh180 billion to build and operate the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) had picked the consortium, the Rift Valley Connect, comprising Vinci Highways SAS, Meridian Infrastructure Africa Fund and Vinci Concessions SAS as the preferred bidder for the project, sparking a protest from a rival consortium that also includes a French firm.

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) had earlier approved a $18.17 million loan (about Sh1.86 billion) for the 50-megawatt Kopere solar project by Voltalia located in Muhoroni Constituency, Kisumu County.

Paris is also set to ink a lucrative deal to build a commuter rail service connecting Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to the city centre through a government-to-government tender.

France is Kenya’s third-largest bilateral lender after China and Japan, with loans from Paris standing at $612.22 million (Sh61.37 billion) last December.

Trade between the two countries is tilted in favour of France, as per data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Kenya imported goods worth Sh23.93 billion from France against Sh7.93 billion in exports, indicating a trade deficit of Sh16 billion.

Orders for Kenyan goods from France have been growing steadily since 2012, rising to Sh7.93 billion in 2018.

Imports, on the other hand, slowed down to Sh23.93 billion last year from Sh26.84 billion in 2017.

Some of major French firms already operating in Kenya include logistics giant Bollore, petroleum marketer Total, audit firm Mazars, Schneider Electric, investment fund Amethis and food flavours producer Afribon.

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