Deputy President Kithure Kindiki called on local and global investors to invest billions of their money in the newly formed Infrastructure Fund, assuring them of Kenya’s long-term economic and political stability.
The DP said the country’s ambition to modernize its infrastructure is on course and has been boosted by the establishment of the Fund that targets crowd-funding over 5 trillion shillings towards faster realization of the infrastructure upgrade.
“We have an ambitious infrastructure programme covering the next 20 years. We want to make sure we modernize our airports, roads, seaports, railways.
This ambitious infrastructure upgrade programme cannot be
achieved by increasing taxes or piling debt.
We are mobilizing public and private resources to be invested in this programme,” DP stated.
Prof. Kindiki spoke on Wednesday when he opened the 22nd Annual African Private, Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference in Nairobi.
The DP challenged the investors to take a keener interest in the Infrastructure Fund which will not only gives them a bigger stake and better returns but also enable them to play a crucial role in elevating Kenya’s roads, railways, airports and seaports among others.
“We are inviting the private sector to invest in the National Infrastructure Fund which we have started harnessing seed capital.
For every one dollar, we target to crowd in 10 dollars of private investment to help us upgrade the infrastructure,” DP said.
The DP said Kenya looks to engage the private sector in the construction of 28, 000 kilometres of new roads, generation of 10,000mw of electricity, the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway to the Uganda border and the modernizing of the two seaports in Mombasa and Lamu.
The DP assured them that the economy is strong with all the macro-economic indicators pointing to stability for many years ahead.
He cited low inflation and interest rates, high cash reserve ratio the last four
years which have ensured stronger macro-economic footing.
“As the government, we are making sure all these fundamentals remain stable to encourage investors to their money in Kenya,” he indicated.
The DP noted successful public-private collaboration in key national projects such as the Nairobi Expressway and the Rironi–Mau Summit Road saying the potential in the partnership is huge and should be further enhanced.
“The Public Private Partnership (PPP) pipeline remains strong, with over 40 active projects under management, including 10 already in active implementation across key sectors such as transport, energy, and urban development.
We continue to strengthen our legal and institutional framework governing infrastructure financing and PPP structuring,” he said.
Prof. Kindiki also said the government is finalizing the establishment of the Sovereign Fund which will safeguard investment and cushion the local economy from internal and external shocks.
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