08/08/2026
*The legendary Gikomba Market to Transform Lives*
The KSh5 billion New Gikomba Market modernization and riverfront redevelopment plan is structured to be implemented across multiple phases. Phase one, valued at roughly KSh 800 million to accommodate about 5,000 to 7,000 traders, is 75% complete and expected to finish by late 2026, with the broader master plan planned across four total phases.
Phase One of the Gikomba Market redevelopment will accommodate between 5,000 to 7,000 traders across three massive multi-storey blocks. This includes the key 7-storey Quarry Road Market Block D, which alone will feature dedicated, organized stalls for over 1,700 local traders.
Project Breakdown
• Total Cost: Sh5 billion overall modernization program.
• Phase One Status: 75% completion status for the initial riverfront blocks.
• Total Planned Stages: Four phases mapped out for the complete market transformation.
*Specific Phase One Amenities:*
The design transitions the market away from cramped, makeshift shacks into a highly functional, safe commercial hub.
• Day-Care Centre: A dedicated childcare facility built directly inside the complex, allowing trading parents to work securely knowing their children are safe.
• Cold Storage Rooms: Specialized cold rooms designed for preservation, allowing mama mboga and perishable-goods traders to minimize stock spoilage.
• Basement Parking Lot: Built-in parking infrastructure to dramatically ease spatial congestion and safely handle customer and supply vehicles.
• Youth Centre & ICT Hubs: Commercial and community spaces targeting local youth for digital and economic empowerment.
• Enhanced Safety Infrastructure: Heavy-duty fire prevention systems, proper electrical wiring, emergency exits, and solid retaining walls to prevent the flooding and frequent infernos that historically plagued the old open-air stalls.
• Additional Facilities: An onsite kitchen, an integrated hardware section, optimized drainage, a centralized refuse collection area, and modern sanitation facilities.
The whole project is expected to be completed by late 2026, with the entire riverfront redevelopment projected to wrap up within about a year of the project's start. The overall project sits within a KSh 5 billion modernization plan that's part of a broader Sh80 billion national-county infrastructure and urban renewal cooperation for Nairobi.
In other words, once complete, Gikomba will create a whole new economy and completely change the face of that part of the city, which has been an eyesore since independence 62 years ago. The Gikomba Market Association alone, with 100,000 members, generates roughly Sh80 million a month in county revenue, so this is a serious tax base for Nairobi County, and not a marginal informal cluster. Formalizing and stabilizing that flow is a real fiscal upside for the city of Nairobi.
