Kenya's busiest airport and the subject of one of Africa's largest infrastructure projects, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The writer argues that India, Gulf nations, and Turkey are challenging China's dominance in Africa's infrastructure market, creating a new era of multipolar competition.
Chinese firms continue to dominate Africa's infrastructure market through low-cost financing and integrated project delivery. But India, the Gulf and Turkey are emerging as credible challengers, making the continent's infrastructure race increasingly multipolar.
China may still be Africa's biggest infrastructure builder, but its dominance is no longer uncontested. India, Turkey and the Gulf states are steadily expanding their footprint by leveraging finance, construction expertise and strategic partnerships, reshaping the continent's infrastructure market.
The latest example comes from Kenya. Two years after the collapse of India's Adani Group's proposed modernisation of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) secured a US$1.2 billion (R19.35 billion) contract to execute the project. A similar trend was seen in Kenya's highway sector. After France's Vinci exited a major road concession, CRBC, along with another Chinese company, stepped in as developer. The original concession had faced criticism because it transferred most financial risks to the Kenyan government.
