Foreign companies will be barred from getting government contracts worth less than Sh20 billion if Parliament approves legislative reforms that disproportionately harm Chinese contractors.

To protect domestic contractors, the Bill proposes raising the cap for foreign corporations to submit bids for taxpayer-funded contracts from Sh500 million to Sh20 billion. Local contractors have already lost out on county road and real estate projects due to Chinese enterprises’ dominance.

“This is to protect local contractors from competition from international contractors. Kenyan contractors have the capacity to undertake government tenders of Sh20 billion,”said Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru.

“By passing this Bill, we will unlock hundreds of billions of shillings for local firms who would bid for mega projects without competing with foreign firms. This is in line with the Kenya Kwanza agenda to offer more tenders to Kenyan young entrepreneurs.”

The majority of the road and railway contracts, valued around Sh777.1 billion, are held by China Communications Construction Co (CCCC) and its subsidiary China Road and Bridges Corporation (CRBC). Local firms like S.S Mehta, H. Young, and Seco have been driven to the outskirts as Chinese firms win lucrative road, rail, and utility contracts.

Prior to now, the government has made it clear that it prefers Chinese businesses over domestic ones because of their quick turnaround and lower prices, while criticizing domestic companies for mediocre performance and uncompetitive bids.

Local contractors believe that the Chinese were paid on time, as opposed to Kenyan businesses, who must wait for years while accruing unpaid invoices, so that the Chinese were able to complete their building projects quickly.