Kenya scraped promises of a July tender made to Dubai Port (DP) World that would have allowed the UAE-based firm to offer a bid for the development, operation and management of the country’s four ports.
According to DP World, the Kenyan government had promised to issue a request for a commercial proposal for the port deals before the August 9 General Election.
Kenya had agreed to offer preference to DP World, owned by the government of Dubai and one of the world’s largest port operators, in a deal inked between the two States.
However, the Kenya treasury disowned the existence of such a deal and denied ever mentioning plans to issue a tender by July.
Meanwhile, Under the deal, DP World was to deploy its money to build three berths at the Mombasa port, develop cold storage supply chains in Kisumu and Naivasha and build a special economic zone in Lamu.
“We have not received any tender documents and we expect to compete with any other players when this is floated. What we were told is the request for proposal will come out by the end of July,” an executive of DP World said in an interview.
