The mystery surrounding the proposals by Adani and its negotiations with the government fueled the controversy. More open and participatory processes that include the public could have resolved many of the issues before they emerged.
Workers at the airport, for example, went on strike last week over the Adani-JKIA proposal, fearing for their jobs if it sailed through. Some analysts also fear that a deal with Adani to upgrade transmission lines could translate to higher energy costs for Kenyans.
But, ultimately, it is an economic question. How to finance the development and upgrades of key infrastructure without taking on expensive debt or turning to tax hikes — which sparked a massive youth-led revolt this year that saw 60 people killed.
Anderson Njuki, a Nairobi-based economist, told Semafor Africa that the current administration was likely to roll out “even more” public-private partnerships to finance major infrastructure projects. This, he said, was because it was short of options with debt repayments accounting for nearly 70% of its revenues. Njuki, however, asserted that improved transparency would be necessary to avoid reprisals by the public and courts.