National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi/HANDOUT
The government has taken a major step towards operationalising the National Infrastructure Fund after National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi appointed six members to the fund's board.
The appointment paves the way for the rollout of one of Kenya's most ambitious infrastructure financing programmes.
In a Gazette Notice published on July 8, Mbadi appointed James Mworia Mwirigi, Fahima Ali Ahmed Zein, Christopher Kibui Maranga, Latoya Ouna, Lawrence Kibet and Mohammed Abdirahman Hassan as members of the National Infrastructure Fund Board.
The six will serve three-year terms effective July 8, 2026.
Their appointment brings the government closer to implementing the National Infrastructure Investment Fund Act, 2026, which Parliament recently enacted to establish a dedicated financing vehicle for large-scale infrastructure projects.
The National Infrastructure Fund is designed as a state-sponsored investment vehicle that will finance commercially viable public infrastructure projects while reducing the country's dependence on traditional taxation and external borrowing.
Under the law, the fund seeks to mobilise private capital and other non-traditional sources of infrastructure financing to accelerate the development of strategic national projects.
Unlike conventional government-funded projects, the fund will leverage proceeds from privatisation of state assets alongside investments from institutional investors, pension funds and other private financiers.
The financing model is expected to ease pressure on the national budget while helping reduce Kenya's reliance on sovereign debt to fund infrastructure development.
According to the National Infrastructure Investment Fund Act, the objectives of the fund include scaling up and accelerating national infrastructure development, mobilising private capital, reducing dependence on public debt for commercially viable projects, and strengthening the country's capacity to originate, structure and execute complex infrastructure investments.
The fund is expected to finance major projects in transport, energy, water and irrigation sectors.
Among the priority investments are highways, railway networks, airports, seaports, irrigation infrastructure and power generation projects that are considered commercially viable.
President William Ruto has previously described the establishment of the National Infrastructure Fund as one of the most significant economic reforms in Kenya's history.
While assenting to the National Infrastructure Fund Bill, the President said the initiative would transform how Kenya finances development by relying more on domestic and private investment rather than excessive public borrowing.
"The establishment of the National Infrastructure Fund is the most consequential initiative in the development history of our nation," Ruto said.
"The fund marks a new chapter in financing our transformation, making us the architects of our own future."
The President said the fund is expected to mobilise more
than Sh5 trillion to finance critical national projects.
Among the flagship projects earmarked for financing are the production of 10,000 megawatts of clean energy, construction of 50 mega dams, 200 micro-dams and more than 1,000 small dams, development of 2,500 kilometres of dual carriageways, and construction of 28,000 kilometres of roads.
The fund will also provide financing for the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Malaba and Kisumu, as well as the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
