Nairobi, March 10, 2026 – The Europe Today: Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday signed the National Infrastructure Fund into law, describing the initiative as one of the most consequential steps in the country’s development history aimed at accelerating economic growth.
Speaking in Nairobi, the president said the establishment of the fund would help mobilize domestic capital and reduce reliance on foreign financing for major development projects.
“Mobilizing domestic capital will help us solve major challenges that arise when development depends excessively on foreign financing,” Ruto said. “The fund marks a new chapter in financing our transformation, making us the architects of our own future,” according to media reports.
Ruto announced that the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will be the first project financed under the new fund. The project will be structured with approximately 20 billion Kenyan shillings (about $155 million) in equity participation from the fund and domestic institutional investors.
The Kenyan leader said the National Infrastructure Fund aims to bridge the country’s infrastructure financing gap by mobilizing more than 5 trillion Kenyan shillings to support major development projects.
These projects include the production of 10,000 megawatts of clean energy, construction of 50 mega dams, 200 micro-dams, more than 1,000 small dams, development of 2,500 kilometers of dual carriageways, and the building of 28,000 kilometers of roads.
Ruto also said the government will secure financing to extend the Standard Gauge Railway from the lakeside town of Naivasha to Malaba near the border with Uganda, as well as to Kisumu.
According to the government, the fund will be managed by a board of eight members, including four independent directors recruited competitively by the governing council, three public officers appointed based on their expertise, and a chief executive officer.
Funding for the initiative will come from a mix of government allocations, private investments, privatization proceeds, grants, and loans, officials said.
