Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has pitched Kenya’s newly established National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) to international investors, seeking to attract private sector capital to finance major infrastructure projects across the country.
Kindiki made the appeal during the Heads of Government and Business Leaders Meeting at the ongoing 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, where he outlined the government’s strategy for mobilising investment through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).
According to the Deputy President, the government has provided approximately 2.7 billion dollars as seed capital for the fund through partial divestiture of government assets, with the ambition of building an initial investment pool of 27 billion dollars.
“At the ongoing 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, participated in the Heads of Government and Business Leaders Meeting,”he said.
He said the fund would support the modernisation of roads, railways, seaports and airports, expansion of renewable energy to support industrialisation and development of water infrastructure.
Kindiki also highlighted plans to expand irrigation infrastructure to put an additional 2.5 million acres of land under irrigation, a move he said would support agricultural production.
The Deputy President explained that the financing model is designed to attract private investors by leveraging government contributions, with every dollar invested by the state expected to attract an additional 10 dollars from the private sector.
He said the arrangement would be anchored in law and structured to encourage long-term investment in commercially viable infrastructure projects.
Kindiki further told the business leaders that the National Infrastructure Fund would be managed by an independent board comprising both public and private sector representatives.
He maintained that investment decisions would be guided by commercial viability assessments, rather than political considerations.
