Bechtel Corporation, an engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company and the largest construction company in the United States, is due to meet the Kenyan government as the two parties seek to find a financial solution to a hopeful massive highway project idea linking Nairobi and Mombasa.

The motorway project spanning 473km, is estimated to be valued at around $3bn, but it is thought that Bechtel and the government have different ideas over how best to fund the construction.

Bechtel is persuading Kenya to contract a loan which it says will grant better value for money than the public-private partnership model being sought by the country's governing authorities. On the other hand, Kenya wants Bechtel to source the initial funding and claim it back through charging toll fees once the road is open. However, the US firm says that this would cost Kenyan taxpayers $5bn over 25 years.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said that the two parties will commence detailed discussion on how the financing approach will be undertaken under that project. They will be discussing modalities, financing structuring and the details to be clear on how to undertake this project.

The expressway, comprising of four lanes, will provide an uninterrupted connection between two of Kenya’s most economically important cities with a maximum speed of 120km/h.