"Letter from Africa: How the Nairobi Expressway is changing Kenya's capital", 9 April 2021

[...] In recent months this situation has become even worse because of the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, injecting a new level of chaos into the capital.

The $550m (£410m) project is set to dramatically change the city's skyline and is meant to ease traffic flows in and out of the centre of East Africa's main commercial hub. [...]

The aim of improving Nairobi's roads seems like a laudable cause, but some argue it could actually exacerbate the city's traffic problems and the huge social and economic divide.

Most residents use matatus - the private pimped-up minibuses - or boda boda motorbike taxis to travel to and from work.

But questions remain over whether these forms of transport will be able to afford the toll fees to use the highway.

It could mean they are left in the jams below the highway as the elite zoom past them above.

Another bone of contention is the environmental impact of the project. Focus internationally has been on Nairobi's famous fig tree, saved by the president after an outcry. [...]

This highway project is the latest in Kenya's China-backed infrastructure splurge in recent years.