The Nairobi International Financial Centre Authority (NIFCA) and the Astana International Financial Centre Authority have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at positioning Nairobi and Astana as emerging conduits for capital flows between Africa, Central Asia, Eurasia and wider global markets.
African economies are increasingly pursuing new investment alliances outside the conventional Western and Asian financial networks.
For Kenya, the agreement forms part of wider ambitions to cement Nairobi’s standing as a regional hub for private equity, venture capital, climate finance, fintech innovation, multinational headquarters and digital financial services.
The partnership also reflects Astana’s growing push to strengthen trade and financial ties with Africa as Kazakhstan expands its role linking Central Asia, the Caucasus, West China and broader Eurasian markets through its common-law-based financial system.
“The NIFC is positioning Nairobi as Africa’s leading hub for fund domiciliation, startups and financial innovation,” said Daniel Mainda, Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi International Financial Centre Authority.
He noted that Nairobi is being developed as a gateway through which global investors can structure African investments, startups can expand across the continent and multinational firms can establish regional headquarters, placing Kenya at the centre of Africa’s financial transformation agenda.
The agreement aligns with Kenya’s ongoing financial sector reforms under the Nairobi International Financial Centre framework and the National Infrastructure Fund initiative, both geared towards unlocking long-term capital for infrastructure development and economic growth.
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The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during President William Ruto’s recent State Visit to Kazakhstan.
The partnership comes as Kenya accelerates reforms targeting the digital and virtual asset space. NIFCA is preparing to certify and onboard firms operating within the digital finance ecosystem following progress towards the final approval of regulations under the Virtual Asset Service Providers framework.
Separately, NIFCA confirmed the certification of a fresh batch of firms under its Category A and Category B frameworks, widening the network of companies operating within Nairobi’s financial centre ecosystem.
The newly approved firms include Giraffe Bioenergy Limited, JPH Investments Limited, Nairobi Pesa City, Mzizi Court Limited, Uhuru Heights Limited, Etica Capital Limited, Onfon Mobile, AFREX Technologies, ReportsAI, VALR Capital, Tawi Fresh Limited and Hodhi Properties Incorporated Kenya.
These companies operate across sectors such as asset management, investment advisory, climate finance, fintech, consumer lending, corporate finance and innovation-led financial services.
Their admission builds on earlier participation by firms including Prudential, Africa Specialty Risks and Lloyd’s-linked market players, reinforcing Nairobi’s strategy of attracting globally connected financial institutions into its expanding ecosystem.
