The World Bank’s Kenya Economic Update released on 4 November 2026 shows Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway cost roughly KSh988 million per kilometre, compared with KSh741 million per kilometre for Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam‑Dodoma line.

Applying Tanzania’s per‑kilometre cost to Kenya’s Mombasa‑Nairobi stretch indicates a potential saving of about KSh116 billion (US$900 million) in initial construction outlays.

The report attributes at least 30 percent of the excess cost to governance challenges, citing direct contracting, land‑speculation schemes and fraud in land valuation and compensation.

A 2026 Transparency International Kenya assessment, using the Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool, flagged the SGR as highly vulnerable to corruption, reinforcing the World Bank’s findings.

Kenya financed the Mombasa‑to‑Naivasha segment of the SGR with roughly KSh648 billion in Chinese loans, according to the draft 2027 Budget Policy Statement released by the National Treasury in October 2026.

Beyond rail, the World Bank highlighted a broader pattern of preferring direct procurement over competitive tendering for public contracts, noting that such practices raise the risk of cost mark‑ups and collusion.

The lender also warned that informal workers, including boda‑boda riders, lose up to 20 percent of daily earnings to bribes from traffic police and county inspectors, estimating nationwide payments of about KSh88 billion annually.