Gautam Adani’s bid to manage Kenya's main airport has triggered widespread protests, Senate hearings, and legal challenges, raising concerns about transparency in the deal.
The billionaire’s group, Adani Airports Holding Ltd., seeks a 30-year concession to expand and operate Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), but opposition figures, airport workers, and civil rights organisations have criticised the process.
A Kenyan high court has temporarily frozen the unsolicited bid amid accusations that the $1.85 billion project could be handled domestically, without Adani’s terms. The Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Kenya have challenged the constitutionality of the lease, pointing to a lack of transparency.
Adani Group, controlled by Asia’s second-richest man, denies any wrongdoing. However, the project has faced opposition from striking airport workers, who fear job losses, and lawmakers criticising the government’s handling of the proposal.
Transport Secretary Davis Chirchir, summoned to a Senate hearing, appeared without a copy of the agreement, citing ongoing government due diligence.
Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, an opposition leader, criticised the government’s secretive approach. “From the beginning, there’s been a pattern to hide the details of the Adani deal,” he wrote in Kenya’s The Star newspaper.
The controversy comes amid wider scrutiny of Adani’s business empire, which faces allegations of money laundering under a Swiss probe and accusations of financial misconduct in India and the U.S. Adani Group has denied the claims.
Despite the backlash, Adani recently secured a $1.3 billion partnership with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Co. to build power transmission lines in the country. However, critics argue the airport deal undermines Kenya’s sovereignty, with terms including an 18% equity stake for Adani and a pledge not to build competing airports for 30 years.
Meanwhile, other African nations like Ethiopia and Rwanda are investing billions in their own transport infrastructure, leading many Kenyans to question the value of the Adani deal. Macharia Munene, a professor at the United States International University in Nairobi, warned the lack of transparency has jeopardised national interests.
"It's a terrible deal," Munene said. "They’ve essentially handed over Kenya's sovereignty."
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