Kenya has formally become a fully paid member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The announcement was made by President William Ruto on September 3, after meeting AIIB president and board of directors chairman Jin Liqun and other officials at the bank’s headquarters in Beijing, China.
Ruto said the membership, which has been acualised after a process spanning nearly six years, will enable Kenya to access concessional funding for infrastructure, climate change efforts, connectivity, regional cooperation and technology-enabled projects and programmes.
Notably, the multilateral development institution has a robust capitalisation of $100 billion which is about Ksh12.8 trillion and 109 member countries.
The new development is in line with Ruto’s strategy to broaden the country’s financial base for development.
In January, the Cabinet approved Kenya’s membership in the AIIB, a move aimed at diversifying the country’s funding sources beyond the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The new AIIB membership is equally timely for Kenya as President Ruto seeks to raise about KSh 1 trillion to plug into the economy after the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.
