NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 20 — President William Ruto has unveiled a new approach to financing Kenya’s major development projects placing the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) at the centre resource mobilization efforts.
Ruto billed the Fund as the solution to development financing raising twithout axes or increasing public debt.
Speaking during the State of the Nation Address on Thursday, President Ruto said Kenya requires at least Sh5 trillion to deliver four priority national projects, describing the sum as ambitious but necessary to secure the country’s future.
“This is undeniably a large sum. Some may see it as unrealistic, even audacious, for a country like ours. But these four projects are our national imperatives—commitments we must embrace without hesitation,” he said.
Ruto explained that the NIF marks a decisive break from past privatisation practices, where proceeds often disappeared into recurrent expenditure without delivering lasting national assets.
“For decades, Kenya has privatised major public assets, but we cannot point to enduring national assets built from those proceeds. The National Infrastructure Fund will break this cycle,” he said.
The President emphasized that the fund is designed to leverage resources more effectively.
“For every shilling invested from privatisation proceeds, we aim to attract ten shillings from long-term investors, including pension funds, sovereign partners, private equity, and development finance institutions,” he said.
Ruto cited successful examples abroad, including Australia’s Future Fund, Singapore’s Temasek, and the UAE’s Mubadala, as proof that commercially run public investment funds can grow national wealth and deliver transformative infrastructure.
Reforms
The NIF’s architecture is anchored in reforms contained in the Government-Owned Enterprises Bill, which Parliament has passed and is set to be signed into law.
The fund will leverage capital markets, diversify ownership, unlock national assets, and channel private capital toward public priorities.
In addition, Ruto announced plans for a Sovereign Wealth Fund, designed to uphold the constitutional principle of intergenerational equity.
A portion of all natural resource royalties and privatisation proceeds will be invested in the fund.
“This fund will rest on three pillars: savings for the future, stabilisation against global shocks, and infrastructure investment managed on commercial terms. We must ensure that future generations are not left poorer,” he said.
The President said the blueprint was developed through wide consultations with political leaders and economic experts.
“I discussed this vision with the late Rt Hon Raila Odinga, who reminded me that no nation has industrialized without roads, energy, and food security. I also engaged former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who emphasised the necessity of scaling up infrastructure investments,” Ruto noted.