Kenya’s bold and ambitious KSh 5 trillion roadmap to transform the nation intoa first-world economy has taken a decisive step following the Cabinet’s approval of the establishment of the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The two funds will anchor the country’s long-term development and economic transformation.
Role of National Infrastructure Fund
Approved as a limited liability company, the National Infrastructure Fund will serve as the central engine for aligning the administration’s financial resources with national development priorities.
Through innovative mobilisation of domestic resources, strategic monetisation of mature public assets, democratisation of ownership through capital markets and the deployment of national savings, the Government will unlock large-scale private sector capital to finance priority investments while reducing reliance on borrowing and taxation.
Under the new framework, all privatisation proceeds will be ring-fenced and invested strictly in public infrastructure projects that generate and preserve long-term value.
“Every shilling invested through the Fund is expected to crowd in up to KSh 10 additional shillings from long-term investors, including pension funds, sovereign partners, private equity funds and development finance institutions,” read a Cabinet despatch issued on Monday, December 15, 2025.
What is Sovereign Wealth Fund Policy?
The Cabinet also approved the Sovereign Wealth Fund Policy, establishing a comprehensive framework for the prudent management and investment of revenues from mineral and petroleum resources, dividends from public investments and a portion of privatisation proceeds through a dedicated national fund.
Anchored on inter-generational savings, protection against external shocks and strategic investments with commercial returns, the Sovereign Wealth Fund will strengthen fiscal discipline, enhance resilience and support long-term national competitiveness.
It also operationalises Article 201 of the Constitution on inter-generational equity and advances the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto’s investment-led growth agenda.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund and the National Infrastructure Fund will finance Kenya’s transformation agenda focused on strengthening food security and positioning Kenya as a net-exporting economy, expanding modern transport and logistics to drive productivity and trade, and scaling up energy generation to power industrialisation and the digital economy.
Ruto’s plan to strengthen food security
To strengthen food security, the government will undertake large-scale modern irrigation through the construction of 50 mega dams, 200 mini-dams and over 1,000 micro-dams, bringing an additional 2.5 million acres into production.
“These investments will reinforce food and water security, support agro-industrialisation and uplift rural livelihoods,” the Cabinet noted.
Transport and logistics infrastructure will be expanded through the dualling of 2,500km of highways and the tarmacking of 28,000km of roads, extension of the Standard Gauge Railway to Malaba, expansion of regional oil pipelines, and modernisation of airports and the ports of Mombasa and Lamu, strengthening connectivity across farms, industries, cities and regional markets.
Powering this growth will be a decisive scale-up of energy generation, with at least 10,000 megawatts of new capacity added over the next seven years to support manufacturing, value addition, digital expansion, e-mobility and emerging technologies, drawing on Kenya’s geothermal, hydro, solar, wind and nuclear potential.
Both funds will be professionally and independently managed under clear governance, transparency and accountability frameworks.
The National Infrastructure Fund will be overseen by a competitively appointed Board and CEO, while the Sovereign Wealth Fund will operate under a robust policy framework to ensure prudent investment, fiscal discipline and inter-generational equity.
“This financing architecture marks a decisive shift toward a sustainable, investment-led development model that mobilises capital, accelerates delivery, preserves national value and secures lasting prosperity for present and future generations,” the cabinet noted.
